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MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MADRAS • MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
DALLAS ■ SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.

TORONTO

THE

TRIBES AND CASTES

OF THE

CENTRAL PROVINCES
OF INDIA

R. V. RUSSELL

OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
SUPERINTKNUENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY, CENTRAL PROVINCES

ASSISTED BY

RAI BAHADUR HlRA LAL

EXTRA ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER

PUBLISHED UNDER THE ORDERS OF THE CENTRAL
PROVINCES ADMINISTRATION

IN FOUR VOLUMES
VOL. II

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

I 9 1 6

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

Articles on Castes and Trip.es of the Central
Provinces in Alphabetical Order

The articles wJiich are considered to be of most getieral interest

are shown in capitals

PAGE

Agaria {Iron-worker) .

Agharia {Cultivator') .

Aghori {Religious ine72di

cant) .

AhIr {Herdsmaii a7id niilknmn)

Andh {Tribe, now cultivators) .

Arakh {Hunter)

Atari {Scent-seller)

Audhelia {Labourer) .

Badhak {Robber)

Bahna {Cotton-cleaner)

Baiga {Forest tribe)

Bairagi {Religious inetidicants)

Balahi {Labourer and v

llage watchman)

105

Balija {Cultivator)

108

Bania {Merchant and moneylender)

1 1 1

SUBCASTES OF BANIA

Agarwala.

Gahoi.

Mahesh

ri.

Agrahari.

Golapurab.

Nema.

Ajudhiabasi.

Kasarwani.

Oswal.

Asathi.

Kasauiidhan.

Parwar

Charnagri.

Khandelwal.

Srimali

Dhusar.

Lad.

Umre.

Dosar.

Lingayat.

vi CONTENTS

Baxj.\ra {Pack-carrier)

Barai {Betel-vi/ie groivcr and seller)

Barhai {Carpe7iter)

Bari {Maker of leaf-plates)

Basdewa {Cattle-dealer and religious mendica7it)

Basor {Bamboo-iuorker)

Bedar {Soldier and public service)

Beldar {Digger and navvy)

Beria ( Vagabond gipsy)

Bhaina {Forest tribe) .

Bhamta {Criminal tribe and labourers)

Bharbhunja {Grain-parcher)

Bharia {Forest tribe) .

Bhat {Bard and genealogist) .

Bhatra {Forest tribe) .

BhIl (Forest tribe)

Bhilala {Landotuner arid cultiimtor)

Bhishti ( IVater-man) .

Bhoyar {Cultivator)

Bhuiya {Forest tribe) .

Bhulia ( IVeaver)

Bhunjia {Forest tribe) .

Binjhwar {Cultivator) .

Bishnoi {Cultivator)

Bohra {Trader)

Brahman {Priest)

SUBCASTES OF BRAHMAN

Ahivasi. Maharashtra.

Jijhotia. Maithil.

Kanaujia, Kanyakubja. Mahvi.

Khedawal. Nagar.

Chadar ( Village watcJanari and labourer-)

Cha.U\k {Tanner ajui labourer)

Chasa {Cultivator)

Chauhan ( Village watchman and labourer)

ChhTpa {Dyer and calico-printer)

ChitAri {Painter)

Naramdeo.
Sanadhya.
Sarwaria.
Utkal.

PAGE
162

199
202

204
208
212
215
220
225

234
238
242
251
271
278

293
298
301

305
319
322

329
337
345
351

400

403
424
427
429
432

CONTENTS vii

\'m;v.
Chitrakathi (/Vi//f/;r .v/z<9tt';/w;/) . . . . -438

CvLic\\\ {'Trader a?id sliopkcepcr) . . . .440

Vits\\\vx {Village ivatchviaii and labourer) . . . 444

Daharia {Culth'ator) . . . . ■ -453

Vil\\\<g\ {Landowner and cultivator') . . . .457

Dangri ( Vegetable-groiver) . . . . -4*^3

Darzi {Tailor) ...... 466

Dewar {Beggar and musician) . . . ■ .472

Dhakar {Illegitimate, cultivator) .... 477

Dhangar {Shep/ierd) . . . . . .480

Dhanuk {Bowman, labourer) ..... 484

Dhanwar {Forest tribe) ..... 488

DhImar {Fisherman, water-carrier, and house/iold servant) . 502
Dhoba {Forest tribe, cultivator) . . . • 5 1 5

Dhobi {Wasker?nan) . . . . . .519

Dhuri {Grain-parcher) . . . . . .527

Dunial {Cultivator) . . . . . -53°

Fakir {Beligious mendicant) . . . . -537

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II

31. Aghori mendicant ......

32. Ahirs decorated with cowries for the Stick Dance at Diwali

33. Image of Krishna as Murhdhar or the flute-player, with

attendant deities

34. Ahir dancers in Diwali costume

35. Pinjara cleaning cotton

36. Baiga village, Balaghat District

37. Hindu mendicants with sect-marks.

38. Anchorite sitting on iron nails

39. Pilgrims carrying water of the river Nerbudda

40. Coloured Plate : Examples of Tilaks or sect-marks worn on

the forehead .....

41. Group of Marwari Bania women .

42. Image of the god Ganpati carried in procession

43. The elephant-headed god Ganpati, His conveyance is a

rat, which can be seen as a little blob between his feet

44. Mud images made and worshipped at the Holi festival

45. Bania's shop

46. Banjara women with the singh or horn

47. Group of Banjara women .

48. Basors making baskets of bamboo

49. Bhat with his piitla or doll

50. Group of Bhlls

51. Tantia Bhll, a famous dacoit

52. Group of Bohras at Burhanpur (Nimar)

53. Brahman worshipping his household gods

54. Brahman bathing party

55. Brahman Pujaris or priests

I'AGE
18

32
72

88
94

102
1 12
116

120
126
128
184
188
210
256
278
282
346
380
384
390

ILL USTRA TIONS

56. Group of Maratha Brahman men .

57. Group of Naramdeo Brahman women
5 8. Group of Naramdeo Brahman men

59. Chamars tanning and working in leather .

60. Chamars cutting leather and making shoes .

61. ChhTpa or cahco-printer at work

62. Dhlmar or fisherman's hut

63. Fishermen in dug-outs or hollowed ti'ee trunks

64. Group of Gurujwale Fakirs

392
396
398
416
418
430
502
506
538

PRONUNCIATION

a has the sound of u in but or murmur.

a in bath or tar.

e in karte or ai in maid.

i in bit^ or (as a final letter) of y in siilky

i ,

))

ee in beet.

0 in bore or bowl.

u in /z/^" or bull.

00 in /i9(??- or boot.

The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words
is formed by adding s in the English manner according to ordinary
usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.

Note. — The rupee contains i6 annas, and an anna is of the same
value as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing.
Rs. 1-8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred
thousand, and a krore ten million.

PART 11

ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES
AGARIA— FAKIR

VOL. II

AGARIA

Agfaria.^ — A small Dravidian caste, who arc an offshoot
of the Gond tribe. The Agarias have adopted the profession
of iron-smelting and form a separate caste. They numbered
9500 persons in 191 i and live on the Maikal range in the
Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur Districts,

The name probably signifies a worker with d^- or fire.
An Agaria subcaste of Lohars also exists, many of whom
are quite probably Gonds, but they are not included in the
regular caste. Similar Dravidian castes of Agarias are to
be found in Mirzapur and Bengal. The Agarias are quite
distinct from the Agharia cultivating caste of the Uriya
country. The Raipur Agarias still intermarry with the
Rawanbansi Gonds of the District. The Agarias think that
their caste has existed from the beginning of the world, and
that the first Agaria made the ploughshare with which the
first bullocks furrowed the primeval soil. The caste has two
endogamous divisions, the Patharia and the Khuntia /\garias.
The Patharias place a stone on the mouth of the bellows to fix
them in the ground for smelting, while the Khuntias use a peg.
The two subcastes do not even take water from one another.

Their exogamous sections have generally the same
names as those of the Gonds, as Sonwani, Dhurua, Tekam,
Markam, Uika, Purtai, Marai, and others. A few names of
Hindi origin are also found, as Ahindwar, Ranchirai and
Rathoria, which show that some Hindus have probably
been amalgamated with the caste. Ahindwar or Aindwar
and Ranchirai mean a fish and a bird respectively in Hindi,
while Rathoria is a gotra both of Rajputs and Telis. The
Gond names are probably also those of animals, plants or
other objects, but their meaning has now generally been

1 This article is compiled from of Bilaspur, and Kanhya Lai, clerk in
papers by Mr. Mir Padshah, Tahsildar the Gazetteer office.

4 AG ARIA PART

forgotten. Tekam or ieka is a teak tree. Sonwani is a
sept found among several of the Dravidian tribes, and the
lower Hindu castes. A person of the Sonwani sept is always
chosen to perform the ceremony of purification and readmis-
sion into caste of persons temporarily excommunicated.
His duty often consists in pouring on such a person a little
water in which gold has been placed to make it holy, and
hence the name is considered to mean Sonapani or gold-
water. The Agarias do not know the meanings of their
section names and therefore have no totemistic observances.
But they consider that all persons belonging to one gotra
are descended from a common ancestor, and marriage within
the gotra is therefore prohibited. As among the Gonds, first
cousins are allowed to marry.
2. Mar- Marriage is usually adult. When the father of a boy

riage. wishes to arrange a marriage he sends emissaries to the
father of the girl. They open the proceedings by saying,
' So-and-so has come to partake of your stale food.' ^ If
the father of the girl approves he gives his consent by saying,
' He has come on foot, I receive him on my head.' The
boy's father then repairs to the girl's house, where he is
respectfully received and his feet are washed. He is then
asked to take a drink of plain water, which is a humble
method of offering him a meal. After this, presents for the
girl are sent by a party accompanied by tomtom players,
and a date is fixed for the marriage, which, contrary to the
usual Hindu rule, may take place in the rains. The reason
is perhaps because iron-smelting is not carried on during the
rains and the Agarias therefore have no work to do. A i&w
days before the wedding the bride-price is paid, which consists
of 5 seers each of ui'ad and til and a sum of Rs. 4 to Rs. i 2.
The marriage is held on any Monday, Tuesday or Friday,
no further trouble being taken to select an auspicious day.
In order that they may not forget the date fixed, the fathers
of the parties each take a piece of thread in which they tie
a knot for every day intervening between the date when the
marriage day is settled and the day itself, and they then
untie one knot for every day. Previous to the marriage all
the village gods are propitiated by being anointed with oil

1 BCisi or rice boiled in water the previous day.

II MARRIAGE 5

by the Baiga or village priest. The first clod of earth for
the ovens is also dug by the Baiga, and received in her cloth
by the bride's mother as a mark of respect. The usual
procedure is adopted in the marriage. After the bride-
groom's arrival his teeth are cleaned with tooth-sticks, and
the bride's sister tries to push sdj leaves into his mouth, a
proceeding which he prevents by holding his fan in front of
his face. For doing this the girl is given a small present.
A paili^ measure of rice is filled alternately by the bride
and bridegroom twelve times, the other upsetting it each
time after it is filled. At the marriage feast, in addition to
rice and pulse, mutton curry and cakes of urad pulse fried
in oil are provided. Urad is held in great respect, and is
always given as a food at ceremonial feasts and to honoured
guests. The greater part of the marriage ceremony is
performed a second time at the bridegroom's house.
Finally, the decorations of the marriage-shed and the palm-
leaf crowns of the bride and bridegroom are thrown into
a tank. The bride and bridegroom go into the water, and
each in turn hides a jar under water, which the other must
find. They then bathe, change their clothes, and go back
to the bridegroom's house, the bride carrying the jar filled
with water on her head. The boy is furnished with a bow
and arrows and has to shoot at a stuffed deer over the girl's
shoulder. After each shot she gives him a little sugar, and
if he does not hit the deer in three shots he must pay
4 annas to the sazvdsa or page. After the marriage the
bridegroom does not visit his wife for a month in order to
ascertain whether she is already pregnant. They then live
together. The marriage expenses usually amount to Rs. i 5
for the bridegroom's father and Rs. 40 for the bride's father.
Sometimes the bridegroom serves his father-in-law for his
wife, and he is then not required to pay anything for the
marriage, the period of service being three years. If the
couple anticipate the ceremony, however, they must leave
the house, and then are recalled by the bride's parents, and
readmitted into caste on giving a feast, which is in lieu of
the marriage ceremony. If they do not comply with the
first summons of the parents, the latter finally sever connec-

' A measure containing about 2^ lbs. of grain.

AG ART A

tion with them. Widow marriage is freely permitted, and
the widow is expected to marry her late husband's younger
brother, especially if he is a bachelor. If she marries
another man with his consent, the new husband gives him a
turban and shoulder-cloth. The children by the first husband
are made over to his relatives if there are any. Divorce is
permitted for adultery or extravagance or ill-treatment by
either party. A divorced wife can marry again, but if she
absconds with another man without being divorced the latter
has to pay Rs. 1 2 to the husband.

When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, her
mother goes to her taking a new cloth and cakes and a
preparation of milk, which is looked on as a luxurious food,
and which, it is supposed, will strengthen the child in the
womb. After birth the mother is impure for five days.
The dead are usually burnt, but children under six whose
ears have not been pierced, and persons dying a violent
death or from cholera or smallpox are buried. When the
principal man of the family dies, the caste-fellows at the
mourning feast tie a cloth round the head of his successor
to show that they acknowledge his new position. They
offer water to the dead in the month of Kunwar (September-
October).

They have a vague belief in a supreme God but do not
pay much attention to him. Their family god is Dulha Deo,
to whom they offer goats, fowls, cocoanuts and cakes. In
the forest tracts they also worship Bura Deo, the chief god
of the Gonds. The deity who presides over their profession
is Loha-Sur, the Iron demon, who is supposed to live in the
smelting-kilns, and to whom they offer a black hen. Formerly,
it is said, they were accustomed to offer a black cow. They
worship their smelting implements on the day of Dasahra
and during Phagun, and offer fowls to them. They have little
faith in medicine, and in cases of sickness requisition the aid
of the village sorcerer, who ascertains what deity is displeased
with them by moving grain to and fro in a winnowing-fan
and naming the village gods in turn. He goes on repeating
the names until his hand slackens or stops at some name,
and the offended god is thus indicated. He is then sum-
moned and enters into the body of one of the persons present.

II OCCUPA TION 7

and explains his reason for being offended with the sick
person, as that he has passed by the god's shrine without
taking off his shoes, or omitted to make the triennial offering
of a fowl or the like. Atonement is then promised and the
offering made, while the sick person on recovery notes the
deity in question as one of a vindictive temper, whose
worship must on no account be neglected. The Agarias
say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but
Gonds, Kawars and Ahirs are occasionally allowed to enter
it. They refuse to eat monkeys, jackals, crocodiles, lizards,
beef and the leavings of others. They eat pork and fowls
and drink liquor copiously. They take food from the higher
castes and from Gonds and Baigas. Only Bahelias and otlicr
impure castes will take food from them. Temporary excom-
munication from caste is imposed for conviction of a criminal
offence, getting maggots in a wound, and killing a cow, a
dog or a cat. Permanent excommunication is imposed for
adultery or eating with a very low caste. Readmission to
caste after temporary exclusion entails a feast, but if the
offender is very poor he simply gives a little liquor or even
water. The Agarias are usually sunk in poverty, and their
personal belongings are of the scantiest description, consisting
of a waist-cloth, and perhaps another wisp of cloth for the
head, a brass lota or cup and a few earthen vessels. Their
women dress like Gond women, and have a few pewter
ornaments. They are profusely tattooed with representations
of flowers, scorpions and other objects. This is done merely
for ornament.

The caste still follow their traditional occupation of iron- s- Occupa-
smelting and also make a few agricultural implements. They
get their ore from the Maikal range, selecting stones of a dark
reddish colour. They mix i6 lbs. of ore with 15 lbs. of
charcoal in the furnace, the blast being produced by a pair
of bellows worked by the feet and conveyed to the furnace
through bamboo tubes ; it is kept up steadily for four hours.
The clay coating of the kiln is then broken down and the
ball of molten slag and charcoal is taken out and hammered,
and about 3 lbs. of good iron are obtained. With this they
make ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles. They also
move about from village to village with an anvil, a hammer

tion.

8 AGHARIA part

and tongs, and building a small furnace under a tree, make
and repair iron implements for the villagers.

I. Origin. Ag'hapia ^ (a corruption of Agaria, meaning one who

came from Agra). — A cultivating caste belonging to the
Sambalpur District^ and adjoining States. They number
27,000 persons in the Raigarh and Sarangarh States and
Bilaspur District of the Central Provinces, and are found also
in some of the Chota Nagpur States transferred from Bengal.
According to the traditions of the Agharias their forefathers
were Rajputs who lived near Agra. They were accustomed
to salute the king of Delhi with one hand only and without
bending the head. The king after suffering this for a long
time determined to punish them for their contumacy, and
summoned all the Agharias to appear before him. At the
door through which they were to pass to his presence he
fixed a sword at the height of a man's neck. The haughty
Agharias came to the door, holding their heads high and not
seeing the sword, and as a natural consequence they were all
decapitated as they passed through. But there was one
Agharia who had heard about the fixing of the sword and
who thought it better to stay at home, saying that he had
some ceremony to perform. When the king heard that there
was one Agharia who had not passed through the door, he
sent again, commanding him to come. The Agharia did not
wish to go but felt it impossible to decline. He therefore
sent for a Chamar of his village and besought him to go
instead, saying that he would become a Rajput in his death
and that he would ever be held in remembrance by the
Agharia's descendants. The Chamar consented to sacrifice
himself for his master, and going before the king was be-
headed at the door. But the Agharia fled south, taking his
whole village with him, and came to Chhattisgarh, where
each of the families in the village founded a clan of the
Agharia caste. And in memory of this, whenever an Agharia
makes a libation to his ancestors, he first pours a little water
on the ground in honour of the dead Chamar. According to

' This article is mainly compiled Mnster of the Raigarh English School,

from papers by the late Mr. Baikunth and Kanhya Lai, clerk in the Gazetteer

Nath Pujari, Extra Assistant Com- office.

missioner, Sambalpur; Sitaram, Head '^ Now transferred to Bengal.

II SUBDIVISIONS 9

another version of the story three brothers of different families
escaped and first went to Orissa, where they asked the Gaj[)ati
king to employ them as soldiers. The kin<^ caused two
sheaths of swords to be placed before them, and telling them
that one contained a sword and the other a bullock-goad,
asked them to select one and by their choice to determine
whether they would be soldiers or husbandmen. From one
sheath a haft of gold projected and from the other one of
silver. The Agharias pulled out the golden haft and found
that they had chosen the goad. The point of the golden and
silver handles is obvious, and the story is of some interest for
the distant resemblance which it bears to the choice of the
caskets in The Merchant of Venice. Condemned, as they
considered, to drive the plough, the Agharias took off their
sacred threads, which they could no longer wear, and gave
them to the youngest member of the caste, saying that he
should keep them and be their Bhat, and they would support
him with contributions of a tenth of the produce of their
fields. He assented, and his descendants are the genealogists
of the Agharias and are termed Dashanshi. The Agharias
claim to be Somvansi Rajputs, a claim which Colonel Dalton
says their appearance favours. " Tall, well-made, with high
Aryan features and tawny complexions, they look like
Rajputs, though they are more industrious and intelligent
than the generality of the fighting tribe." ^

Owing to the fact that with the transfer of the Sambalpur 2. Sub-
District, a considerable portion of the Agharias have ceased
to be residents of the Central Provinces, it is unnecessary to
give the details of their caste organisation at length. They
have two subdivisions, the Bad or superior Agharias and
the Chhote, Sarolia or Sarwaria, the inferior or mixed
Agharias. The latter are a cross between an Agharia and
a Gaur (Ahir) woman. The Bad Agharias will not eat with
or even take water from the others. Further local sub-
divisions are now in course of formation, as the Ratanpuria,
Phuljharia and Raigarhia or those living round Ratanpur,
Phuljhar and Raigarh. The caste is said to have 84 gotras
or exogamous sections, of which 60 bear the title of Patel,
18 that of Naik, and 6 of Chaudhri. The section names

' Daltou's EtJiiiolog}' of Bengal, p. 322.

divisions.

lo A CHART A part

are very mixed, some being those of eponymous Brahman
gotyas, as Sandilya, Kaushik and Bharadwaj ; others those
of Rajput septs, as Karchhul ; while others are the names of
animals and plants, as Barah (pig), Baram (the pipal tree),
Nag (cobra), Kachhapa (tortoise), and a number of other
local terms the meaning of which has been forgotten. Each
of these sections, however, uses a different mark for brand-
ing cows, which it is the religious duty of an Agharia to
rear, and though the marks now convey no meaning, they
were probably originally the representations of material
objects. In the case of names whose meaning is understood,
traces of totemism survive in the respect paid to the animal
or plant by members of the sept which bears its name.
This analysis of the structure of the caste shows that it was
a very mixed one. Originally consisting perhaps of a
nucleus of immigrant Rajputs, the offspring of connections
with inferior classes have been assimilated ; while the story
already quoted is probably intended to signify, after the
usual Brahmanical fashion, that the pedigree of the Agharias
at some period included a Chamar.

Marriage within the exogamous section and also with
first cousins is forbidden, though in some places the union of
a sister's son with a brother's daughter is permitted. Child
marriage is usual, and censure visits a man who allows an
unmarried daughter to arrive at adolescence. The bride-
groom should always be older than the bride, at any rate by
a day. When a betrothal is arranged some ornaments and
a cloth bearing the szuastik or lucky mark are sent to the
girl. Marriages are always celebrated during the months of
Magh and Phagun, and they are held only once in five or
six years, when all children whose matches can be arranged
for are married off. This custom is economical, as it saves
expenditure on marriage feasts. Colonel Dalton also states
that the Agharias always employ Hindustani Brahmans for
their ceremonies, and as very few of these are available, they
make circuits over large areas, and conduct all the weddings
of a locality at the same period. Before the marriage
a kid is sacrificed at the bride's house to celebrate the
removal of her status of maidenhood. When the bridegroom
arrives at the bride's house he touches with his dagger the

II MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 1 1

string of mango-lcavcs suspended from the marriage-shed and
presents a rupee and a hundred betel-leaves to the bride's
saivdsin or attendant. Next day the bridegroom's father
sends a present of a bracelet and seven small earthen cups
to the bride. She is seated in the open, and seven women
hold the cups over her head one above the other. Water is
then poured from above from one cup into the other, each
being filled in turn and the whole finally falling on the bride's
head. This probably symbolises the fertilising action of rain.
The bride is then bathed and carried in a basket seven times
round the marriage-post, after which she is seated in a chair
and seven women place their heads together round her while
a male relative winds a thread seven times round the heads
of the women. The meaning of this ceremony is obscure.
The bridegroom makes his appearance alone and is seated
with the bride, both being dressed in clothes coloured yellow
with turmeric. The bridegroom's party follows, and the feet
of the couple are washed with milk. The bride's brother
embraces the bridegroom and changes cloths with him.
Water is poured over the hands of the couple, the girl's
forehead is daubed with vermilion, and a red silk cloth is
presented to her and the couple go round the marriage-post.
The bride is taken for four days to the husband's house
and then returns, and is again sent with the usual gauna
ceremony, when she is fit for conjugal relations. No price
is usually paid for the bride, and each party spends about
Rs. lOO on the marriage ceremony. Polygamy and widow
marriage are generally allowed, the widow being disposed
of by her parents. The ceremony at the marriage of a
widow consists in putting vermilion on the parting of her
hair and bangles on her wrists. Divorce is. allowed on
pain of a fine of Rs. 50 if the divorce is sought by the
husband, and of Rs. 25 if the wife asks for it. In some
localities divorce and also polygamy are said to be forbidden,
and in such cases a woman who commits adultery is finally
expelled from the caste, and a funeral feast is given to sym-
bolise her death.

The family god of the Agharias is Dulha Deo, who exists 4- Reii-

1 111 /->. ITT .'I ,1 gious and

m every household. On the Haraiti day or the commence- ^^^^^^
ment of the agricultural year they worship the implements customs.

12 AGHARIA PART

of cultivation, and at Dasahra the sword if they have one.
They have a great reverence for cows and feed them sump-
tuously at festivals. Every Agharia has a giwu or spiritual
guide who whispers the mantra or sacred verse into his ear
and is occasionally consulted. The dead are usually burnt,
but children and persons dying of cholera or smallpox are
buried, males being placed on the pyre or in the grave on
their faces and females on their backs, with the feet pointing
to the south. On the third day the ashes are thrown into a
river and the bones of each part of the body are collected
and placed under the pipal tree, while a pot is slung over
them, through which water trickles continually for a week,
and a lighted lamp, cooked food, a leaf-cup and a tooth-stick
are placed beside them daily for the use of the deceased
during the same period. Mourning ends on the tenth day,
and the usual purification ceremonies are then performed.
Children are mourned for a shorter period. Well -to -do
members of the caste feed a Brahman daily for a year after
a death, believing that food so given passes to the spirit of
the deceased. On the anniversary of the death the caste-
fellows are feasted, and after that the deceased becomes a
purkha or ancestor and participates in devotions paid at
the shrddhh ceremony. When the head of a joint family
dies, his successor is given a turban and betel-leaves, and his
forehead is marked by the priest and other relations with
sandalwood. After a birth the mother is impure for twenty-
one days. A feast is given on the twelfth day, and sometimes
the child is named then, but often children are not named
until they are six years old. The names of men usually
end in Ram, Ndth or Singh, and those of women in Kunwa^-.
Women do not name their husbands, their elderly relations,
nor the sons of their husband's eldest brother. A man does
not name his wife, as he thinks that to do so would tend to
shorten his life in accordance with the Sanskrit saying, ' He
who is desirous of long life should not name himself, his guru,
a miser, his eldest son, or his wife.' The Agharias do not
admit outsiders into the caste. They will not take cooked
food from any caste, and water only from a Gaur or Rawat.
They refuse to take water from an Uriya Brahman, probably
in retaliation for the refusal of Uriya Brahmans to accept

II Acr/ORr 13

water from an Ajrharfa, thoui;h taking it from a Kolta.
Both the Uriya Brahmans and Agharias are of somewhat
doubtful origin, and both are therefore probably the more
concerned to maintain the social position to which they lay
claim. But Kewats, Rawats, Telis and other castes eat
cooked food from Agharias, and the caste therefore is
admitted to a fairly high rank in the Uriya country. The
Agharias do not drink liquor or eat any food which a Rajput
would refuse.

As cultivators they are considered to be proficient. In 5. Occupa-
the census of 1901 nearly a quarter of the whole caste were ''°"'
shown as malguzars or village proprietors and lessees. They
wear a coarse cloth of homespun yarn which they get woven
for them by Gandas ; probably in consequence of this the
Agharias do not consider the touch of the Ganda to pollute
them, as other castes do. They will not grow turmeric,
onions, garlic, i-<a:;^-hemp or tomatoes, nor will they rear tasar
silk-cocoons. Colonel Dalton says that their women do no out-
door work, and this is true in the Central Provinces as regards
the better classes, but poor women work in the fields.

Aghori, Ag'horpanthi.^ — The most disreputable class of i. General
Saiva mendicants who feed on human corpses and excre- accounts
ment, and in past times practised cannibalism. The sect is caste.
apparently an ancient one, a supposed reference to it being
contained in the Sanskrit drama Malati Mdd/iava, the hero
of which rescues his mistress from being offered as a sacri-
fice by one named Aghori Ghanta.^ According to Lassen,
quoted by Sir H. Risley, the Aghoris of the present day are
closely connected with the Kapalika sect of the Middle Ages,
who wore crowns and necklaces of skulls and offered human
sacrifices to Chamunda, a form of Devi, The Aghoris now
represent their filthy habits as merely giving practical ex-
pression to the abstract doctrine that the whole universe is
full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is as pure
as another. By eating the most horrible food they utterly
subdue their natural appetites, and hence acquire great power

1 This article is mainly based on a Aiithr. Soc. Bombay, iii. p. 197.
paper on Aghoris and Aghorpanthis, ^ Bhattacharya, Hindu Casles and

by Mr. H. W. Barrow, in Ihe Journal Sects, p. 392.

14 AGHORI PART

over themselves and over the forces of nature. It is believed
that an Aghori can at will assume the shapes of a bird, an
animal or a fish, and that he can bring back to life a corpse
of which he has eaten a part. The principal resort of the
Aghoris appears to be at Benares and at Girnar near Mount
Abu, and they wander about the country as solitary mendi-
cants. A few reside in Saugor, and they are occasionally
met with in other places. They are much feared and disliked
by the people owing to their practice of extorting alms by
the threat to carry out their horrible practices before the eyes
of their victims, and by throwing filth into their houses.
Similarly they gash and cut their limbs so that the crime of
blood may rest on those who refuse to give. " For the most
part," Mr. Barrow states,^ " the Aghorpanthis lead a wander-
ing life, are without homes, and prefer to dwell in holes,
clefts of rocks and hwxmw^-ghdts. They do not cook, but
eat the fragments given them in charity as received, which
they put as far as may be into the cavity of the skull used
as a begging-bowl. The bodies of chelas (disciples) who die
in Benares are thrown into the Ganges, but the dead who
die well off are placed in coffins. As a rule, Aghoris do not
care what becomes of their bodies, but when buried they are
placed in the grave sitting cross-legged. The Aghori gurus
keep dogs, which may be of any colour, and are said to be
maintained for purposes of protection. The dogs are not all
pariahs of the streets, although some gurus are followed by
three or four when on pilgrimage. Occasionally the dogs
seem to be regarded with real affection by their strange
masters. The Aghori is believed to hold converse with all
the evil spirits frequenting the burning-^/^5/j-, and funeral
parties must be very badly off who refuse to pay him some-
thing. In former days he claimed five pieces of wood at each
funeral in Benares ; but the Doms interfere with his perqui-
sites, and in some cases only let him carry off the remains of
the unburned wood from each pyre. When angered and
excited, Aghoris invoke Kali and threaten to spread devasta-
tion around them. Even among the educated classes, who
should know better, they arc dreaded, and as an instance of
the terror which they create among the ignorant, it may be

1 Aghoris and Aghorpanthis, pp. 224, 226.

mmmmmiammmmmiBtmimtiaiiJ0

AGHORI MENDICANT.

't)se, (_ iuio.. iJdrby.

II INSTANCES OF CANNIIiAI.ISM 15

mentioned that in the Lucknow District it is believed that
if ahns are refused them the Aghoris will cause those who
refuse to be attacked with fever.

" On the other hand, their good offices may secure bene-
fits, as in the case of a zamlndar of Muzaffarnagar, who at
Allahabad refused to eat a piece of human flesh offered to
him by an Aghori ; the latter thereupon threw the flesh at the
zamlndar's head, on which it stuck. The zamlndar afterwards
became so exceedingly wealthy that he had difficulty in
storing his wealth."

In former times it is believed that the Aghoris used to
kidnap strangers, sacrifice them to the goddess and eat the
bodies, and Mr. Barrow relates the following incident of the ism.
murder of a boy: ^ "Another horrible case, unconnected with
magic and apparently arising from mere blood-thirst, occurred
at Neirad in June 1878. An Aghori mendicant of Dwarka
staying at the temple of Sitaram Laldas seized a boy of twelve,
named Shankar Ramdas, who was playing with two other
boys, threw him down on the ^(^//ir? of the temple, ripped open
his abdomen, tore out part of his entrails, and, according to
the poor little victim's dying declaration, began to eat them.
The other boys having raised an alarm, the monster was
seized. When interrogated by the magistrate as to whether
he had committed the crime in order to perform Aghorbidya,
the prisoner said that as the boy was Bhakshan he had eaten
his flesh. He added that if he had not been interrupted he
would have eaten all the entrails. He was convicted, but
only sentenced to transportation for life. The High Court,
however, altered the sentence and ordered the prisoner to be
hanged."

The following instance, quoted by Mr. Barrow from
Rewah, shows how an Aghori was hoist with his own
petard : " Some years ago, when Maharaja Bishnath Singh
was Chief of Rewah, a man of the Aghori caste went to
Rewah and sat dhania on the steps of the palace ; having
made ineffectual demands for alms, he requested to be sup-
plied with human flesh, and for five days abstained from
food. The Maharaja was much troubled, and at last, in order
to get rid of his unwelcome visitor, sent for Ghansiam Das,

* Page 208.

1 6 AGHORI PART

another Aghori, a Fakir, who had for some years Hved in
Rewah. Ghansiam Das went up to the other Aghori and
asked him if it was true that he had asked to be supphed
with human flesh. On receiving a reply in the affirmative,
Ghansiam Das said : ' Very well, I too am extremely
partial to this form of food ; here is my hand, eat it and I
will eat you'; and at the same time he seized hold of the
other's hand and began to gnaw at it. The Aghori on this
became much alarmed and begged to be excused. He shortly
afterwards left Rewah and was not heard of again, while
Ghansiam Das was rewarded for his services."

The following recent instance of an Aghori devouring
human corpses is reported from the Punjab : ^ " The loath-
some story of a human ghoul from Patiala shows that the
influence of the Aghorpanthi has not yet completely died
out in this country. It is said that for some time past
human graves have been found robbed of their contents,
and the mystery could not be solved until the other
day, when the police succeeded in arresting a man in the
act of desecrating a child's grave, some forty miles distant
from the capital (Patiala). The ghoul not only did not
conceal the undevoured portion of the corpse he had with
him, but told his captors the whole story of his gruesome
career. He is a low-caste Hindu named Ram Nath, and
is, according to a gentleman who saw him, ' a singularly
mild and respectful-looking man, instead of a red-eyed and
ravenous savage,' as he had expected to find him from the
accounts of his disgusting propensities. He became an
orphan at five and fell into the hands of two Sadhus of his
own caste, who were evidently Aghorpanthis. They taught
him to eat human flesh, which formed the staple of their
food. The meat was procured from the graves in the vil-
lages they passed through. When Ram Nath was thoroughly
educated in this rank the Sadhus deserted him. Since then
he had been living on human carrion only, roaming about
the country like a hungry vulture. He cannot eat cooked
food, and therefore gets two seers of raw meat from the
State every day. It is also reported that the Maharaja has

1 The Tribune (Lahore), November Ascetics and Saints of India, pp. 164,
29, 1898, quoted in Oman's Mystics, 165.

II INSTANCES OF CANNIHALISM 17

now prohibited his being given anj'tliing but cooked food
with a view to reforming liim."

Sir J. B. Fuller relates the following incident of the
employment of an Aghori as a servant •} " There are actually
ten thousand persons who at census time classed them-
selves a,s Aghoris. All of them do not practise cannibalism
and some of them attempt to rise in the world. One of them
secured service as a cook with a British officer of my acquaint-
ance. My friend was in camp in the jungle with his wife
and children, when his other servants came to him in a body
and refused to remain in service unless the cook was dis-
missed, since they had discovered, they declared, that during
the night-time he visited cemeteries and dug up the bodies
of freshly buried cliildren. The cook was absent, but they
pointed to a box of his that emitted a sickening smell. The
man was incontinently expelled, but for long afterwards the
family were haunted by reminiscences of the curries they
had eaten."

' Studies of Indian Life mid Sen/iweiif, p. 44.

VOL. II

AHiR

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1 . Gefteral notice. i o. Birth customs.

2. Former dominance of the Al>- ii. Fiaieralj-ites. Bringing back

hiras. the soul.

3. A/ur dialects. 12. Religion. Kj-ishna and other

4. Tlie Yddavas and Kjishna. deified cowherds.

5. TJie modern Ahlrs an occitpa- 13. Caste deities.

tional caste. 1 4. Other deities.

6. Subcastes. 15. The Diivdli festival.

7. The Dauwa or ivet-77urse 16. Omens.

Ahirs. Fosterage. 17. Social customs.

8. Exogamy. 18. Or7taments.
g. Marriage customs. 19. Occupation.

20. Preparations of milk.

Ahir,^ Gaoli, Guala, Golkar, Gaolan, Rawat, Gahra,
Mahakul. — The caste of cowherds, milkmen and cattle-
breeders. In 191 I the Ahlrs numbered nearly 750,000
persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being the
sixth caste in point of numbers. This figure, however,
excludes 150,000 Gowaris or graziers of the IMaratha
Districts, and if these were added the Ahlrs would out-
number the Telis and rank fifth. The name Ahir is derived
from Abhlra, a tribe mentioned several times in inscriptions
and the Hindu sacred books. Goala, a cowherd, from
Gopala,'*^ a protector of cows, is the Bengali name for the
caste, and Gaoli, with the same signification, is now used in
the Central Provinces to signify a dairyman as opposed to
a grazier. The Gaolans appear to be an inferior class of
Gaolis in Berar. The Golkars of Chanda may be derived
from the Telugu Golars or graziers, with a probable

' The information about birth Nandgaon State,
customs in this article is from a paper " Go, gau or gai, an ox or cow,

by Mr. Kalika Prasad, Tahsildar, Riij- and pat 01 fdlai, guardian.

PT. II FORMER DOMINANCE OF TJIE AllHIRAS 19

admixture of Goncl blood. They are described as wild-
looking people scattered about in the most thickly forested
tracts of the District, where they graze and tend cattle.
Rawat, a corruption of Rajputra or a princeling, is the name
borne by the Ahir caste in Chhattlsgarh ; while Gahra is
their designation in the Uriya country. The Mahakul
Ahirs are a small group found in the Jashpur State, and
said to belong to the Nandvansi division. The name means
' Great family.'

The Abhlras appear to have been one of the immigrant 2. Former
tribes from Central Asia who entered India shortly before or '^°™"a"ce
about the commencement of the Christian era. In the Puranas Abhiras.
and Mahilbharata they are spoken of as Dasyu or robbers,
and Mlechchhas or foreigners, in the story which says that
Arjuna, after he had burned the dead bodies of Krishna and
Balaram at Dwiirka, was proceeding with the widows of the
Yadava princes to Mathura through the Punjab when he was
waylaid by the Abhlras and deprived of his treasures and
beautiful women. ^ An inscription of the Saka era 102,
or A.D. 180, speaks of a grant made by the Senapati or
commander-in-chief of the state, who is called an Abhlra,
the locality being Sunda in Kathiawar. Another inscription
found in Nasik and assigned by Mr. Enthoven to the fourth
century speaks of an Abhlra king, and the Puranas say that
after the Andhrabhrityas the Deccan was held by the
Abhlras, the west coast tract from the Tapti to Deogarh
being called by their name.^ In the time of Samudragupta
in the middle of the fourth century the Abhiras were settled
in Eastern Rajputana and Malwa.^ When the Kathis arrived
in Gujarat in the eighth century, they found the greater part
of the country in the possession of the Ahlrs.^ In the
Mirzapur District of the United Provinces a tract known as
Ahraura is considered to be named after the tribe ; and near
Jhansi another piece of country is called Ahlrwar.^ Elliot
states that AhIrs were also Rajas of Nepal about the com-
mencement of our era.^ In Khandesh, Mr. Enthoven states,

^ Ind. Ant. (Jan. 1911), 'Foreign ^ Early History of India, 3rd ed.

Elements in the Hindu Population,' by p. 286.

Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar. •* Elliot, ibide?>!.

^ Elliot, Supplemental Glossary, s.v. ^ Bombay Monograph on Ahir.

Ahir. 6 Elliot, ibidem.

20 AHIR PART

the settlements of the Ahirs were important. In many castes
there is a separate division of AhIrs, such as the Ahir Sunars,
Sutars, Lohars, Shimpis, Sails, Guraos and Kolis. The fort
of Asirgarh in Nimar bordering on Khandesh is supposed
to have been founded by one Asa AhIr, who lived in the
beginning of the fifteenth century. It is said that his
ancestors had held land here for seven hundred years, and
he had io,ooo cattle, 20,000 sheep and 1000 mares, with
2000 followers ; but was still known to the people, to
whom his benevolence had endeared him, by the simple
name of Asa. This derivation of Asirgarh is clearly
erroneous, as it was known as Asir or Asirgarh, and held
by the Tak and Chauhan Rajputs from the eleventh century.
But the story need not on that account, Mr. Grant says,^ be
set down as wholly a fable. Firishta, who records it, has
usually a good credit, and more probably the real existence
of a line of Ahir chieftains in the Tapti valley suggested a
convenient ethnology for the fortress. Other traditions of
the past domination of the pastoral tribes remain in the
Central Provinces. Deogarh on the Chhindwara plateau
was, according to the legend, the last seat of Gaoli power
prior to its subversion by the Gonds in the sixteenth
century. Jatba, the founder of the Deogarh Gond
dynasty, is said to have entered the service of the Gaoli
rulers, Mansur and Gansur, and subsequently with the aid
of the goddess Devi to have slain them and usurped their
kingdom. But a Gaoli chief still retained possession of the
fort of Narnfda for a few years longer, when he also was
slain by the Muhammadans. Similarly the fort of Gawilgarh
on the southern crest of the Satpuras is said to be named
after a Gaoli chief who founded it. The Saugor traditions
bring down the Gaoli supremacy to a much later date, as
the tracts of Etawa and Khurai are held to have been
governed by their chieftains till the close of the seventeenth
century.

Certain dialects called after the Abhiras or AhIrs still

remain. One, known as Ahlrwati, is spoken in the Rohtak

and Gurgaon Districts of the Punjab and round Delhi. This

is akin to Mewati, one of the forms of Rajasthani or the

^ Central Provinces Gazetteer (1S71), Introduction.

THE YADAVAS AND KRISHNA

lancjuac^c of Rajputfina. The Malwi dialect of Rajasthani
is also known as Ahiri ; and that curious form of Gujarati,
which is half a l>hil dialect, and is generally known as
Khandeshi, also bears the name of Ahlrani.^ The above
linguistic facts seem to prove only that the Abhiras, or their
occupational successors, the Ahlrs, were strongly settled in the
Delhi country of the Punjab, Malwa and Khandesh. They
do not seem to throw much light on the origin of the Abhiras
or Ahlrs, and necessarily refer only to a small section of the
existing Ahir caste, the great bulk of whom speak the Aryan
language current where they dwell. Another authority
states, however, that the Ahlrs of Gujarat still retain a
dialect of their own, and concludes that this and the other
Ahir dialects are the remains of the distinct Abhlra language.

It cannot necessarily be assumed that all the above 4. The
traditions relate to the Abhlra tribe proper, of which the ^^"^'^^^^
modern Ahir caste are scarcely more than the nominal Krishna.
representatives. Nevertheless, it may fairly be concluded
from them that the Abhiras were widely spread over India
and dominated considerable tracts of country. They are
held to have entered India about the same time as the
Sakas, who settled in Gujarat, among other places, and, as
seen above, the earliest records of the Abhiras show them in
Nasik and Kathiawar, and afterwards widely spread in
Khandesh, that is, in the close neighbourhood of the Sakas.
It has been suggested in the article on Rajput that the
Yadava and other lunar clans of Rajputs may be the
representatives of the Sakas and other nomad tribes who
invaded India shortly before and after the Christian era.
The god Krishna is held to have been the leader of the
Yadavas, and to have founded with them the sacred city of
Dwarka in Gujarat. The modern Ahlrs have a subdivision
called Jaduvansi or Yaduvansi, that is, of the race of the
Yadavas, and they hold that Krishna was of the Ahir tribe.
Since the Abhiras were also settled in Gujarat it is possible
that they may have been connected with the Yadavas, and
that this may be the foundation for their claim that Krishna
was of their tribe. The Dyashraya-Kavya of Hemachandra
speaks of a Chordasama prince reigning near Junagarh as

^ Linguistic Survey of India, vol. ix. part ii. p. 50.

22 AHIR PART

an Abhira and a Yadava. But this is no doubt very con-
jectural, and the simple fact that Krishna was a herdsman
would be a sufficient reason for the Ahirs to claim connection
with him. It is pointed out that the names of Abhira
chieftains given in the early inscriptions are derived from
the god Siva, and this would not have been the case if they
had at that epoch derived their origin from Krishna, an
incarnation of Vishnu. "If the Abhiras had really been
the descendants of the cowherds (Gopas) whose hero was
Krishna, the name of the rival god Siva would never have
formed components of the names of the Abhiras, whom we
find mentioned in inscriptions. Hence the conclusion may
safely be drawn that the Abhiras were by no means connected
'with Krishna and his cowherds even as late as about A.D.
300, to which date the first of the two inscriptions mentioned
above is to be assigned. Precisely the same conclusion is
.pointed to by the contents of the Harivansha and Bhagwat
Purana. The upbringing of Krishna among the cowherds
and his flirtations with the milkmaids are again and again
mentioned in these works, but the word Abhira does not
occur even once in this connection. The only words we
find used are Gopa, Gopi and Vraja. This is indeed
remarkable. For the descriptions of the removal of Krishna
as an infant to Nanda, the cowherd's hut, of his childhood
passed in playing with the cowherd boys, and of his youth
spent in amorous sports with the milkmaids are set forth at
great length, but the word Abhira is not once met with.
From this only one conclusion is possible, that is, that the
yVbhiras did not originally represent the Gopas of Krishna.
The word Abhira occurs for the first time in connection with
the Krishna legend about A.D. 550, from which it follows
that the Abhiras came to be identified with the Gopas shortly
before that date." ^

This argument is interesting as showing that Abhira was
not originally an occupational term for a herdsman, nor a caste
name, but belonged to an immigrant tribe. Owing apparently
to the fact that the Abhiras, like the Gujars, devoted them-
selves to a pastoral mode of life in India, whereas the
previous Aryan immigrants had settled down to cultivation,
' Bombay Ethnographic Stcfvey.

II THE VADAVAS ANn KRISHNA 23

they fravc their name to the i^rcat occujjational caste of
herdsmen which was subsequently develo[)ed, and of which
they may originally have constituted the nucleus. The
Gujars, who came to India at a later period, form a parallel
case ; although the Giljar caste, which is derived from them,
is far less important than the Ahlr, the Gujars have also
been the parents of several Rajpiit clans. The reason why
the early Mathura legends of Krishna make no mention of
the Ahirs may be that the deity Krishna is probably com-
pounded of at least two if not more distinct personalities.
One is the hero chief of the Yadavas, who fought in the
battle of the Pandavas and Kauravas, migrated to Gujarat
and was killed there. As he was chief of the Yadavas this
Krishna must stand for the actual or mythical personality
of some leader of the immigrant nomad tribes. The other
Krishna, the boy cowherd, who grazed cattle and sported
writh the milkmaids of Brindaban, may very probably be
some hero of the indigenous non-Aryan tribes, who, then as
now, lived in the forests and were shepherds and herdsmen.
His lowly birth from a labouring cowherd, and the fact that
his name means black and he is represented in sculpture as
being of a dark colour, lend support to this view. The cult
of Krishna, Mr. Crooke points out, was comparatively late,
and probably connected with the development of the worship
of the cow after the decay of Buddhism. This latter
Krishna, who is worshipped with his mother as a child-god,
was especially attractive to women, both actual and pro-
spective mothers. It is quite probable therefore that as his
worship became very popular in Hindustan in connection
with that of the cow, he was given a more illustrious origin
by identification with the Yadava hero, whose first home
was apparently in Gujarat. In this connection it may also
be noted that the episodes connected with Krishna in the
Mahabharata have been considered late interpolations.

But though the Ahir caste takes its name and is perhaps 5. The
partly descended from the Abhlra tribe, there is no doubt "hirsTn
that it is now and has been for centuries a purely occupa- occupa-
tional caste, largely recruited from the indigenous tribes. ^^^^^^_
Thus in Bengal Colonel Dalton remarks that the features
of the Mathuravasi Goalas are high, sharp and delicate, and

24 AHIR PART

they are of light-brown complexion. Those of the Magadha
subcaste, on the other hand, are undefined and coarse. They
are dark-complexioned, and have large hands and feet.
" Seeing the latter standing in a group with some Singhbhum
Kols, there is no distinguishing one from the other. There
has doubtless been much mixture of blood." ^ Similarly in
the Central Provinces the Ahirs are largely recruited from
the Gonds and other tribes. In Chanda the Gowaris are
admittedly descended from the unions of Gonds and Ahirs,
and one of their subcastes, the Gond- Gowaris, are often
classed as Gonds. Again, the Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla
are descended from the unions of Ahirs either with the
Gonds or Kawars, and many of them are probably pure
Gonds. They have Gond sept-names and eat pork. Members
of one of their subdivisions, the Gond-Kaonra, will take water
from Gonds, and rank below the other Kaonras, from whom
they will accept food and water. As cattle have to go into
the thick jungles to graze in the hot weather, the graziers
attending them become intimate with the forest tribes who
live there, and these latter are also often employed to graze
the cattle, and are perhaps after a time admitted to the
Ahir caste. Many Ahirs in Mandla are scarcely considered
to be Hindus, living as they do in Gond villages in sole
company with the Gonds.

The principal subcastes of the Ahirs in northern India
are the Jaduvansi, Nandvansi and Gowalvansi. The Jadu-
vansi claimed to be descended from the Yadavas, who now
form the Yadu and Jadon-Bhatti clans of Rajputs. The
probability of a historical connection between the Abhiras
and Yadavas has already been noticed. The Nandvansi
consider their first ancestor to have been Nand, the cowherd,
the foster-father of Krishna ; while the name of the Gowal-
vansi is simply Gofda or Gauli, a milkman, a common
synonym for the caste. The Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla and
the Kamarias of Jubbulpore are considered to belong to the
Nandvansi group. Other subcastes in the northern Districts
are the Jijhotia, who, like the Jijhotia Brahmans, take their
name from Jajhoti, the classical term for Bundelkhand ; the
Bharotia ; and the Narwaria from Narwar. The Rawats
* Quoted in Tribes ajtd Castes of Bengal, art. Goala.

II THE DAUWA OR WET-NURSE AIItRS 25

of Chhattisi^arh arc divided into the Jliadia, Kosaria and
Kanaujia groups. Of these the Jhadia or 'jungly,' and
Kosaria from Kosala, the ancient name of the Chhattlsgarh
country, arc the oldest settlers, while the Kanaujia are largely
employed as personal servants in Chhattlsgarh, and all castes
will take water from their hands. The superior class of them,
however, refuse to clean household cooking vessels, and are
hence known as Thethwar, or exact or pure, as distinguished
from the other Rawats, who will perform this somewhat
derogatory work.

The Dauwa or wet-nurse Ahirs are descended from the 7- The
illegitimate offspring of Bundela Rajput fathers by Ahir weunur°e
mothers who were employed in this capacity in their families. Ahirs.
An AhIr woman kept by a Bundela was known as Pardwarin,
or one coming from another house. This is not considered
a disgraceful origin ; though the Dauwa Ahirs are not re-
cognised by the Ahirs proper, they form a separate section
of the caste, and Brahmans will take water from them. The
children of such mothers stood in the relation of foster-
brothers to the Rajputs, whom their mothers had nursed.
The giving of milk, in accordance with the common primitive
belief in the virtue attaching to an action in itself, was held
to constitute a relation of quasi-maternity between the nurse
and infant, and hence of fraternity between her own children
and her foster-children. The former were called Dhai-bhais
or foster-brothers by the Rajputs ; they were often given
permanent grants of land and employed on confidential
missions, as for the arrangement of marriages. The minister
of a Raja of Karauli was his Dauwa or foster-father, the
husband of his nurse. Similarly, Colonel Tod says that the
Dhai-bhai or foster-brother of the Raja of Boondi, com-
mandant of the fortress of Tanagarh, was, like all his class,
devotion personified.^ A parallel instance of the tie of
foster-kinship occurs in the case of the foster-brothers of
Conachar or Hector in The Fair Maid of Perth. Thus the
position of foster-brother of a Rajput was an honourable one,
even though the child might be illegitimate. Ahir women
were often employed as wet-nurses, because domestic service
was a profession in which they commonly engaged. Owing

^ Rajasthtui, ii. p. 639.

26 AHIR PART

to the comparatively humble origin of a large proportion of
them they did not object to menial service, while the purity
of their caste made it possible to use them for the supply of
water and food. In Bengal the Uriya Ahlrs were a common
class of servants in European houses.

The Gaolis or milkmen appear to form a distinct branch
of the caste with subcastes of their own. Among them are
the Nandvans, comm.on to the Ahlrs, the Malwi from Malwa
and the Raghuvansi, called after the Rajput clan of that
name. The Ranyas take their designation from rdn^ forest,
like the Jhadia Rawats.

The caste have exogamous sections, which are of the
usual low-caste type, with titular or totemistic names. Those
of the Chhattlsgarhi Rawats are generally named after animals.
A curious name among the Mahakul Ahirs is Mathankata,
or one who bit his mother's nipples. The marriage of
persons belonging to the same section and of first cousins
is prohibited. A man may marry his wife's younger sister
while his wife is living, but not her elder sister. The practice
of exchanging girls between families is permissible.

As a rule, girls may be married before or after puberty, but
the Golkars of Chanda insist on infant marriage, and fine the
parents if an unmarried girl becomes adolescent. On the
other hand, the Kaonra Ahlrs of Mandla make a practice of
not getting a girl married till the signs of puberty have
appeared. It is said that in Mandla if an unmarried girl
becomes pregnant by a man of the caste the paiicJidyat give
her to him and fine him Rs. 2 0 or 30, which they appro-
priate themselves, giving nothing to the father. If an Ahir
girl is seduced by an outsider, she is made over to him, and
a fine of Rs. 40 or 50 is exacted from him if possible. This
is paid to the girl's father, who has to spend it on a penalty
feast to the caste. Generally, sexual offences within the
community are leniently regarded. The wedding ceremony
is of the type prevalent in the locality. The proposal comes
from the boy's family, and a price is usually given for the
bride. The Kaonra Ahlrs of Mandla and the Jharia and
Kosaria Rawats of Chhattlsgarh employ a Brfdiman only to
write the lagun or paper fi.xing the date of the wedding, and
the ceremony is conducted by the sazvdsins or relatives of

customs.

II TURTfJ CUSTOMS 27

the parties. In Chhatti.s<jaili the bridcf^room is dressed as a
girl to be taken to the wedding. In Betul the weddings of
most Gaolis are held in Magh (January), and that of the
Ranya subcaste in the bright fortnight of Kartik (October).
At the ceremony the bride is made to stand on a small stone
roller ; the bridegroom then takes hold of the roller facing
the bride and goes round in a circle seven times, turning
the roller with him. Widow remarriage is permitted, and
a widow is often expected to marry the younger brother of
her deceased husband. If a bachelor wishes to marry a
widow he first goes through the ceremony with a dagger or
an earthen vessel. Divorce is freely permitted. In Hoshan-
gabad a strip is torn off the clothes worn by husband
and wife as a sign of their divorce. This is presumably in
contrast to the knotting of the clothes of the couple together
at a wedding.

Among the Rawats of Chhattisgarh, when a child is 10. Birth
shortly to be born the midwife dips her hand in oil and
presses it on the wall, and it is supposed that she can tell by
the way in which the oil trickles down whether the child will
be a boy or a girl. If a woman is weak and ill during her
pregnancy it is thought that a boy will be born, but if she is
strong and healthy, a girl. A woman in advanced pregnancy
is given whatever she desires to eat, and on one occasion
especially delicate kinds of food are served to her, this rite
being known as Sidhori. The explanation of the custom is
that if the mother does not get the food she desires during
pregnancy the child will long for it all through life. If
delivery is delayed, a line of men and boys is sometimes
made from the door of the house to a well, and a vessel is
then passed from hand to hand from the house, filled with
water, and back again. Thus the water, having acquired the
quality of speed during its rapid transit, will communicate
this to the woman and cause her quick delivery. Or they
take some of the clay left un moulded on the potter's wheel
and give it her to drink in water ; the explanation of this
is exactly similar, the earth having acquired the quality of
swiftness by the rapid transit on the wheel. If three boys
or three girls have been born to a woman, they think that
the fourth should be of the same sex, in order to make up

28 AHiR PART

two pairs. A boy or girl born after three of the opposite
sex is called Titra or Titri, and is considered very unlucky.
To avert this misfortune they cover the child with a basket,
kindle a fire of grass all round it, and smash a brass pot on
the floor. Then they say that the baby is the fifth and not
the fourth child, and the evil is thus removed. When one
woman gives birth to a male and another to a female child
in the same quarter of a village on the same day and they
are attended by the same midwife, it is thought that the boy
child will fall ill from the contagion of the girl child com-
municated through the midwife. To avoid this, on the
following Sunday the child's maternal uncle makes a banghy,
which is carried across the shoulders like a large pair of
scales, and weighs the child in it against cowdung. He then
takes the banghy and deposits it at cross-roads outside the
village. The father cannot see either the child or its mother
till after the Chathi or sixth-day ceremony of purification,
when the mother is bathed and dressed in clean clothes, the
males of the family are shaved, all their clothes are washed,
and the house is whitewashed ; the child is also named on
this day. The mother cannot go out of doors until after the
Barhi or twelfth -day ceremony. If a child is born at an
unlucky astrological period its ears are pierced in the fifth
month after birth as a means of protection.
1 1. Funeral The dead are either buried or burnt. When a man is

Bringing '^y''"'? they put basil leaves and boiled rice and milk in his
back the moutli, and a little piece of gold, or if they have not got
gold they put a rupee in his mouth and take it out again.
For ten days after a death, food in a leaf-cup and a lamp are
set out in the house-yard every evening, and every morning
water and a tooth-stick. On the tenth day they are taken
away and consigned to a river. In Chhattisgarh on the
third day after death the soul is brought back. The women
put a lamp on a red earthen pot and go to a tank or
stream at night. The fish are attracted towards the light,
and one of them is caught and put in the pot, which is then
filled with water. It is brought home and set beside a small
heap of flour, and the elders sit round it. The son of the
deceased or other near relative anoints himself with turmeric
and picks up a stone. This is washed with the water from

soul

II REUGION 29

ihc pot, and placed on the floor, and a sacrifice of a cock or
hen is made to it accordinq^ as the deceased was a man or a
woman. The stone is then enshrined in the house as a
family god, and the sacrifice of a fowl is repeated annually. It
ij. supposed apparently that the dead man's spirit is brouc^ht
';ack to the house in the fish, and then transferred to the
:tone by washing this with the water.

The Ahirs have a special relation to the Hindu religion, 12. Re-
owing to their association with the sacred cow, which is itself i!f,.'°hna
revered as a goddess. When religion gets to the anthropo- ;^"'i «ihcr
morphic stage the cowherd, who partakes of the cow's sanctity, cowherds,
may be deified as its representative. This was probably the
case with Krishna, one of the most popular gods of Hinduism,
who was a cowherd, and, as he is represented as being of a
dark colour, may even have been held to be of the indigenous
races. Though, according to the legend, he was really of
royal birth, Krishna was brought up by Nand, a herdsman of
Gokul, and Jasoda or Dasoda his wife, and in the popular
belief these are his parents, as they probably were in the
original story. The substitution of Krishna, born as a prince,
for Jasoda's daughter, in order to protect him from destruc-
tion by the evil king Kansa of Mathura, is perhaps a later
gloss, devised when his herdsman parentage was considered
too obscure for the divine hero. Krishna's childhood in
Jasoda's house with his miraculous feats of strength and his
amorous sports with Radha and the other milkmaids of Brinda-
wan, are among the most favourite Hindu legends. Govind
and Gopal, the protector or guardian of cows, are names of
Krishna and the commonest names of Hindus, as are also
his other epithets, Murlidhar and Bansidhar, the flute-player ;
for Krishna and Balaram, like Greek and Roman shepherds,
were accustomed to divert themselves with song, to the
accompaniment of the same instrument. The child Krishna
is also very popular, and his birthday, the Janam-Ashtami
on the 8th of dark Bhadon (August), is a great festival. On
this day potsful of curds are sprinkled over the assembled
worshippers. Krishna, however, is not the solitary instance
of the divine cowherd, but has several companions, humble
indeed compared to him, but perhaps owing their apotheosis
to the same reasons, Bhilat, a popular local godling of the

3°

AHIR

Nerbudda Valley, was the son of an Ahir or Gaoli woman ;
she was childless and prayed to Parvati for a child, and the
goddess caused her votary to have one by her own husband, the
god Mahadeo. Bhilat was stolen away from his home by
Mahadeo in the disguise of a beggar, and grew up to be a
great hero and made many conquests ; but finally he returned
and lived with his herdsman parents, who were no doubt his
real ones. He performed numerous miracles, and his devotees
are still possessed by his spirit. Singaji is another godling
who was a Gaoli by caste in Indore. He became a disciple of
a holy Gokulastha Gosain or ascetic, and consequently a
great observer of the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's birthday.^
On one occasion Singaji was late for prayers on this day, and
the guru was very angry, and said to him, ' Don't show
your face to me again until you are dead.' Singaji went
home and told the other children he was going to die. Then
he went and buried himself alive. The occurrence was
noised abroad and came to the ears of the guru, who was
much distressed, and proceeded to offer his condolences to
Singaji's family. But on the way he saw Singaji, who had
been miraculously raised from the dead on account of his
virtuous act of obedience, grazing his buffaloes as before.
After asking for milk, which Singaji drew from a male
buffalo calf, the gm-u was able to inform the bereaved parents
of their son's joyful reappearance and his miraculous powers ;
of these Singaji gave further subsequent demonstration, and
since his death, said to have occurred 350 years ago, is
widely venerated. The Gaolis pray to him for the
protection of their cattle from disease, and make thank-
offerings of butter if these prayers are fulfilled. Other
pilgrims to Singaji's shrine offer unripe mangoes and sugar,
and an annual fair is held at it, when it is said that for
seven days no cows, flies or ants are to be seen in the place.
In the Betul district there is a village godling called Dait,
represented by a stone under a tree. He is the spirit of any
Ahlr who in his lifetime was credited in the locality with
having the powers of an exorcist. In Mandla and other
Districts when any buffalo herdsman dies at a very advanced

^ Gokul was the place where Krishna was brought up, and the Gokulastha
Gosains are his special devotees.

II CASTE DEITIES 31

age the people make a platform for him within the village
and call it Mahashi Deo or the buffalo god. Similarly,
when an old cattle herdsman dies they do the same, and call
it Balki Ueo or the bullock god. Here we have a clear
instance of the process of substituting the spirit of the
lierdsman for the cow or buffalo as an object of worship.
The occupation di the Ahir also lends itself to religious
imaginations. He stays in the forest or waste grass-land,
frequently alone from morning till night, watching his herds ;
and the credulous and uneducated minds of the more
emotional may easily hear the voices of spirits, or in a
half-sleeping condition during the heat and stillness of the
long day may think that visions have appeared to them.
Thus they come to believe themselves selected for communi-
cation with the unseen deities or spirits, and on occasions of
strong religious excitement work themselves into a frenzy
and are held to be possessed by a spirit or god.

Among the special deities of the Ahirs is Kharak Deo, 13. Caste
who is always located at the khirkha, or place of assembly of '^'"^^'
the cattle, on going to and returning from pasture. He appears
to be the spirit or god of the kliirkJia. He is represented by
a platform with an image of a horse on it, and when cattle
fall ill the owners offer flour and butter to him. These
are taken by the Ahirs in charge, and it is thought that the
cattle will get well. Matar Deo is the god of the pen or
enclosure for cattle made in the jungle. Three days after
the Diwali festival the Rawats sacrifice one or more goats to
him, cutting off their heads. They throw the heads into the
air, and the cattle, smelling the blood, run together and
toss them with their horns as they do when they scent a tiger.
The men then say that the animals are possessed by Matar Deo,
Guraya Deo is a deity who lives in the cattle-stalls in the
village and is worshipped once a year. A man holds an ^^^
in his hand, and walks round the stall pouring liquid over
the Q.'g^ all the way, so as to make a line round it. The o.^^
is then buried beneath the shrine of the ijod, the rite beine
probably meant to ensure his aid for the protection of the
cattle from disease in their stalls. A favourite saint of the
Ahirs is Haridas Baba. He was a Jogi, and could separate his
soul from his body at pleasure. On one occasion he had

32 AHIR PART

gone in spirit to Benares, leaving his body in the house of
one of his disciples, who was an Ahlr. When he did not
return, and the people heard that a dead body was lying there,
they came and insisted that it should be burnt. When he
came back and found that his body was burnt, he entered
into a man and spoke through him, telling the people what
had happened. In atonement for their unfortunate mistake
they promised to worship him.

14. Other The Mahakul Ahirs of Jashpur have three deities, whom
deities. they call Mahadeo or Siva, Sahadeo, one of the five Pandava

brothers, and the goddess Lakshmi. They say that the
buffalo is Mahadeo, the cow Sahadeo, and the rice Lakshmi.
This also appears to be an instance of the personification of
animals and the corn into anthropomorphic deities.

15. The The principal festival of the AhIrs is the Diwali, falling
P'^^'^'l about the beginning of November, which is also the time

festival. t> o

when the autumn crops ripen. All classes observe this
feast by illuminating their houses with many small saucer-
lamps and letting off crackers and fireworks, and they
generally gamble with money to bring them good luck
during the coming year. The AhIrs make a mound of
earth, which is called Govardhan, that is the mountain in
Mathura which Krishna held upside down on his finger for
seven days and nights, so that all the people might gather
under it and be protected from the devastating storms of
rain sent by Indra. After dancing round the mound they
drive their cattle over it and make them trample it to pieces.
At this time a festival called Marhai is held, at which much
liquor is drunk and all classes disport themselves. In
Damoh on this day the Ahirs go to the standing-place for
village cattle, and after worshipping the god, frighten the
cattle by waving leaves of the basil-plant at them, and then
put on fantastic dresses, decorating themselves with cowries,
and go round the village, singing and dancing. Elsewhere
at the time of the Marhai they dance round a pole with
peacock feathers tied to the top, and sometimes wear
peacock feathers themselves, as well as aprons sewn all over
with cowries. It is said that Krishna and Balaram used to
wear peacock feathers when they danced in the jungles of
Mathura, but this rite has probably some connection with

11 77//:" niU'Al.I FESTIVAL 33

the worship of the peacock. This bird niij^ht be venerated
by the Ahirs as one of the prominent denizens of the jungle.
In Raipur they tie a white cock to the top of the pole and
dance round it. In Mandla, Khila Mutha, the god of the
threshing-floor, is worshipped at this time, with offerings
of a fowl and a goat. They also perform the rite oi jagdna
or waking him up. They tie branches of a small shrub to a
stick and pour milk over the stone which is his emblem,
and sing, ' Wake up, Khila Mutha, this is the night of
Amawas ' (the new moon). Then they go to the cattle-shed
and wake up the cattle, crying, ' Poraiya, god of the door,
watchman of the window, open the door, Nand Gowal is
coming.' Then they drive out the cattle and chase them
with the branches tied to their sticks as far as their grazing-
ground. Nand Gowal was the foster-father of Krishna, and
is now said to signify a man who has a lakh (100,000) of
cows. This custom of frightening the cattle and making
them run is called dhor jagdna or bichkdna, that is, to wake
up or terrify the cattle. Its meaning is obscure, but it is
said to preserve the cattle from disease during the year.
In Raipur the women make an image of a parrot in clay at
the Diwali and place it on a pole and go round to the
different houses, singing and dancing round the pole, and
receiving presents of rice and money. They praise the
parrot as the bird who carries messages from a lover to his
mistress, and as living on the mountains and among the
green verdure, and sing :

" Oh, parrot, where shall we sow gondla grass and where
shall we sow rice ?

" We will sow gondla in a pond and rice in the field.

" With what shall we cvX gondla grass, and with what shall
we cut rice ?

" We shall cut gondla with an axe and rice with a sickle."

It is probable that the parrot is revered as a spirit of
the forest, and also perhaps because it is destructive to the
corn. The parrot is not, so far as is known, associated
with any god, but the Hindus do not kill it. In Bilaspur
an ear of rice is put into the parrot's mouth, and it is said
there that the object of the rite is to prevent the parrots
from preying on the corn.

VOL. II D

34 AHIR PART

On the night of the full moon of Jesth (May) the Ahirs
stay awake all night, and if the moon is covered with clouds
they think that the rains will be good. If a cow's horns are
not firmly fixed in the head and seem to shake slightly, it
is called Maini, and such an animal is considered to be
lucky. If a bullock sits down with three legs under him
and the fourth stretched out in front it is a very good
omen, and it is thought that his master's cattle will increase
and multiply. When a buffalo-calf is born they cover it at
once with a black cloth and remove it from the mother's
sight, as they think that if she saw the calf and it then died
her milk would dry up. The calf is fed by hand. Cow-
calves, on the other hand, are usually left with the mother,
and many people allow them to take all the milk, as they
think it a sin to deprive them of it.

The Ahirs will eat the flesh of goats and chickens, and
most of them consume liquor freely. The Kaonra Ahirs of
Mandla eat pork, and the Ravvats of Chhattlsgarh are said
not to object to field-mice and rats, even when caught in
the houses. The Kaonra Ahirs are also said not to con-
sider a woman impure during the period of menstruation.
Nevertheless the Ahirs enjoy a good social status, owing to
their relations with the sacred cow. As remarked by Eha :
" His family having been connected for many generations
with the sacred animal he enjoys a certain consciousness of
moral respectability, like a man whose uncles are deans or
canons." ^ All castes will take water from the hands of
an Ahir, and in Chhattlsgarh and the Uriya country the
Rawats and Gahras, as the AhIr caste is known respectively
in these localities, are the only caste from whom Brahmans
and all other Hindus will take water. On this account, and
because of their comparative purity, they are largely
employed as personal servants. In Chhattlsgarh the
ordinary Rawats will clean the cooking - vessels even of
Muhammadans, but the Thethwar or pure Rawats refuse this
menial work. In Mandla, when a man is to be brought
back into caste after a serious offence, such as getting
vermin in a wound, he is made to stand in the middle of a
stream, while some elderly relative pours water over him.

' Behind the Bungalow.

II ORNAMENTS -occur AT ION 35

lie then addresses tlie members of the caste /(^wc/^cy/^/ or
committee, who are standing on the bank, saying- to them,
' Will you leave me in the mud or will you take me out ? '
Then they tell him to come out, and he has to give a feast.
At this a member of the Meliha sept first eats food and
puts some into the offender's mouth, thus taking the latter's
sin upon himself The offender then addresses the pan-
chdyat saying, ' Rajas of the Panch, eat.' Then the pan-
chdyat and all the caste take food with him and he is
readmitted. In Nandgaon State the head of the caste
panchdyat is known as Thethwar, the title of the highest
subcaste, and is appointed by the Raja, to whom he makes
a present. In Jashpur, among the Mahakul Ahirs, when an
offender is put out of caste he has on readmission to make
an offering of Rs. 1-4 to Balaji, the tutelary deity of the
State. These Mahakuls desire to be considered superior to
ordinary Ahirs, and their social rules are hence very strict.
A man is put out of caste if a dog, fowl or pig touches his
water or cooking-pots, or if he touches a fowl. In the latter
case he is obliged to make an offering of a fowl to the local
god, and eight days are allowed for procuring it. A man is
also put out of caste for beating his father. In Mandla,
Ahirs commonly have the title of Patel or headman of a
village, probably because in former times, when the country
consisted almost entirely of forest and grass land, they were
accustomed to hold large areas on contract for grazing.

In Chhattlsgarh the Rawat women are especially fond of 18. Orna-
wearing large churns or leg-ornaments of bell-metal. These "^^"'^•
consist of a long cylinder which fits closely to the leg,
being made in two halves which lock into each other,
while at each end and in the centre circular plates project
outwards horizontally. A pair of these churns may weigh
8 or 10 lbs., and cost from Rs. 3 to Rs. 9. It is probable that
some important magical advantage was expected to come
from the wearing of these heavy appendages, which must
greatly impede free progression, but its nature is not known.

Only about thirty per cent of the Ahirs are still occupied 19- Occu-
in breeding cattle and dealing in milk and butter. About P^"°"-
four per cent are domestic servants, and nearly all the
remainder cultivators and labourers. In former times the

36 AHIR PART

Ahirs had the exclusive right of milking the cow, so that on
all occasions an Ahir must be hired for this purpose even
by the lowest castes. Any one could, however, milk the
buffalo, and also make curds and other preparations from
cow's milk/ This rule is interesting as showing how the
caste system was maintained and perpetuated by the custom
of preserving to each caste a monopoly of its traditional
occupation. The rule probably applied also to the bulk of
the cultivating and the menial and artisan castes, and now
that it has been entirely abrogated it would appear that the
gradual decay and dissolution of the caste organisation must
follow. The village cattle are usually entrusted jointly to
one or more herdsmen for grazing purposes. The grazier is
paid separately for each animal entrusted to his care, a common
rate being one anna for a cow or bullock and two annas for a
buffalo per month. When a calf is born he gets four annas
for a cow-calf and eight annas for a she-buffalo, but except
in the rice districts nothing for a male buffalo-calf, as these
animals are considered useless outside the rice area. The
reason is that buffaloes do not work steadily except in
swampy or wet ground, where they can refresh themselves
by frequent drinking. In the northern Districts male
buffalo-calves are often neglected and allowed to die, but
the cow-buffaloes are extremely valuable, because their milk
is the principal source of supply of ghl or boiled butter.
When a cow or buffalo is in milk the grazier often gets the
milk one day out of four or five. When a calf is born the teats
of the cow are first milked about twenty times on to the
ground in the name of the local god of the Ahlrs. The
remainder of the first day's milk is taken by the grazier, and
for the next few days it is given to friends. The village
grazier is often also expected to prepare the guest-house
for Government officers and others visiting the village,
fetch grass for their animals, and clean their cooking
vessels. For this he sometimes receives a small plot of
land and a present of a blanket annually from the village
proprietor. Malguzars and large tenants have their private
herdsmen. The pasturage afforded by the village waste
lands and forest is, as a rule, only sufficient for the plough-

' Eastern India, ii. \>. 467.

II PRRPA RATIONS OF MI I.K yj

bullocks and more valuable milch-animals. The remainder
arc taken away sometimes for lon^^ distances to the Govern-
ment forest reserves, and here the herdsmen make stockades
in the jungle and remain there with their animals for months
together. The cattle which remain in the village are taken
by the owners in the early morning to the kJiirkha or central
standing-ground. Here the grazier takes them over and
drives them out to pasture. He brings them back at ten or
eleven, and perhaps lets them stand in some field which
the owner wants manured. Then he separates the cows
and milch-buffaloes and takes them to their masters' houses,
where he milks them all. In the afternoon all the cattle
are again collected and driven out to pasture. The cultivators
are very much in the grazier's hands, as they cannot super-
vise him, and if dishonest he may sell off a cow or calf to
a friend in a distant village and tell the owner that it has
been carried off by a tiger or panther. Unless the owner
succeeds by a protracted search or by accident in finding the
animal he cannot disprove the herdsman's statement, and the
only remedy is to dispense with the latter's services if such
losses become unduly frequent. On this account, accord-
ing to the proverbs, the Ahir is held to be treacherous and
false to his engagements. They are also regarded as stupid
because they seldom get any education, retain their rustic
and half-aboriginal dialect, and on account of their solitary
life are dull and slow-witted in company. ' The barber's
son learns to shave on the Ahir's head.' ' The cow is in
league with the milkman and lets him milk water into the
pail.' The Ahirs are also hot-tempered, and their propensity
for drinking often results in affrays, when they break each
other's head with their cattle-staffs. ' A Gaoli's quarrel :
drunk at night and friends in the morning.'

Hindus nearly always boil their milk before using it, as 20. Prepar-
the taste of milk fresh from the cow is considered unpalat- ^l°j!^^ °*^
able. After boiling, the milk is put in a pot and a little old
curds added, when the whole becomes dahi or sour curds.
This is a favourite food, and appears to be exactly the same
substance as the Bulgarian sour milk which is now con-
sidered to have much medicinal value. Butter is also made
by churning these curds or dahi. Butter is never used

38 ANDH PART

without being boiled first, when it beconnes converted into a
sort of oil ; this has the advantage of keeping much better
than fresh butter, and may remain fit for use for as long as
a year. This boiled butter is known as ght, and is the
staple product of the dairy industry, the bulk of the surplus
supply of milk being devoted to its manufacture. It is
freely used by all classes who can afford it, and serves very
well for cooking purposes. There is a comparatively small
market for fresh milk among the Hindus, and as a rule
only those drink milk who obtain it from their own animals.
The acid residue after butter has been made from dahi
(curds) or milk is known as viatJia or butter-milk, and is the
only kind of milk drunk by the poorer classes. Milk boiled
so long as to become solidified is known as kliir, and is used
by confectioners for making sweets. When the milk is
boiled and some sour milk added to it, so that it coagulates
while hot, the preparation is called ckhana. The whey
is expressed from this by squeezing it in a cloth, and a kind
of cheese is obtained.^ The liquid which oozes out at the
root of a cow's horns after death is known as gaolocJian and
sells for a high price, as it is considered a valuable medicine
for children's cough and lung diseases.

Andh." — A low cultivating caste of Berar, who numbered
52,000 persons in 191 i, and belong to the Yeotmal, Akola
and Buldana Districts. The Andhs appear to be a non-
Aryan tribe of the Andhra or Tamil country, from which
they derive their name. The territories of the Andhra
dynasty extended across southern India from sea to sea in
the early part of the Christian era. This designation may,
however, have been given to them after migration, emigrants
being not infrequently called in their new country by the
name of the place from which they came, as Berari, Purdesi,
Audhia (from Oudh), and so on. At present there seems
to be no caste called Andh in Madras. Mr. Kitts ^ notes
that they still come from Hyderabad across the Penganga
river.

' Buchanan, Eastern India, ii. pp. paper by Mr. W. S. Slaney, E.A.C.,
924, 943. Akola.

^ This article is mainly based on a ^ Berar Census Report (18S1).

I AND II 39

The caste arc divided into two groups, Vartati or pure
and Khaltfiti or illci,M'timatc, which take food together, but
do not intermarry. They have a large number of exoga-
mous septs, most of which appear to have Marathi names,
either taken from villages or of a titular character. A few
are called after animals or plants, as Majiria the cat, Ringni
a kind of tree, Dumare from Dumar, an ant-hill, Dukare from
Dukar, a pig, and Titawe from Titawa, a bird. Baghmare
means tiger-killer or one killed by a tiger ; members of this
sept revere the tiger. Two septs, Bhoyar and Wanjari, are
named after other castes.

Marriage between members of the same sept is pro-
hibited, and also between first cousins, except that a sister's
son may marry a brother's daughter. Until recently marriage
has been adult, but girls are now wedded as children, and
betrothals are sometimes arranged before they are born.
The ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. Betrothals are
arranged between October and December, and the weddings
take place three or four months later, from January to April.
If the bride is mature she goes at once to her husband's
house. Polygamy is allowed ; and as only a well-to-do man
can afford to obtain more than one wife, those who have
several are held to be wealthy, and treated with respect.
Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted, but
the widow may not marry her husband's brother nor any
member of his clan. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant
by a man of her own or a superior caste she is fined, and
can then be married as a widow. Her feet are not washed
nor besmeared with red powder at the wedding ceremony
like those of other girls. In some localities Andh women
detected in a criminal intimacy even with men of such im-
pure castes as the Mahars and Mangs have been readmitted
into the community. A substantial fine is imposed on a
woman detected in adultery according to her means and
spent on a feast to the caste. All the members thus have a
personal interest in the detection and punishment of such
offences. The dead are usually buried, and water and sugar
are placed in a d}'ing man's mouth instead of the sacred
objects used by Hindus ; nor are the dying urged to call
on Rama. The dead are buried with the head to the south,

40 ARAKH PART

in opposition to the Hindu custom. The Andhs will eat the
flesh of fowls and pigs, and even cats, rats and snakes in
some localities, though the more civilised have abjured these
latter. They are very fond of pork, and drink liquor, and
will take food from Kunbis, Malis and Kolis, but not from
Gonds. They have a caste panchdyat or committee, with
a headman called Mohtaria, and two officers known as
Phopatia and Dukria. When a caste offence is committed
the Dukria goes to call the offender, and is given the
earthen pots used at the penalty-feast, while the Phopatia
receives a new piece of cloth. The Mohtaria or headman
goes from village to village to decide cases, and gets a share
of the fine. The caste are shikaris or hunters, and culti-
vators. • They catch antelope, hares, pig and nilgai in their
nets, and kill them with sticks and stones, and they dam up
streams and net fish. Birds are not caught. Generally, the
customs of the Andhs clearly point to an aboriginal origin,
but they are rapidly being Hinduised, and in some tracts can
scarcely be distinguished from Kunbis.

They have Marathi names ; and though only one name
is given at birth, Mr. Slaney notes that this is frequently
changed for some pet name, and as often as not a man goes
regularly by some name other than his real one,

Arakh. — A small caste of cultivators and labourers
found principally in the Chanda District and Berar and
scattered over other localities. The Arakhs are considered
to be an offshoot of the Pasi or Bahelia caste of hunters
and fowlers. Mr. Crooke ^ writes of them : " All their tradi-
tions connect them with the Pasis and Parasurama, the
sixth Avatara of Vishnu. One story runs that Parasurama
was bathing in the sea, when a leech bit his foot and caused
it to bleed. He divided the blood into two parts ; out of
one part he made the first Pasi and out of the second the
first Arakh. Another story is that the Pasis were made
out of the sweat {paslna) of Parasurama. While Para-
surama was away the Pasi shot some animals with his bow,
and the deity was so enraged that he cursed the Pasi, and
swore that his descendants should keep pigs. This accounts

^ Tribes and Castes, art. Arakh.

II ARAKH 41

for the degradation of the Pfisis. Subsequently Parasurama
sent for some Pfisis to help him in one of his wars ; but
they ran away and hid in an arhar ' field and were hence
called Arakhs." This connection with the Pasis is also
recognised in the case of the Arakhs of Bcriir, of whom
Mr. Kitts writes : " " The Arakhs found in Morsi are a
race akin to the Bahelias. Their regular occupation is
bird-catching and shikar (hunting). They do not follow
Hindu customs in their marriages, but although they keep
pigs, eat flesh and drink spirits, they will not touch a
Chamar. They appear to be a branch of the Pasi tribe,
and are described as a semi-Hinduised class of aborigines."
In the Chanda District, however, the Arakhs are closely
connected with the Gond tribe, as is evident from their
system of exogamy. Thus they say that they are divided
into the Matia, Tekam, Tesli, Godam, Madai, Sayam and
Chorliu septs, worshipping respectively three, four, five, six,
seven, eight and twelve gods ; and persons who worship
the same number of gods cannot marry with one another.
This system of divisions according to the different number
of gods worshipped is found in the Central Provinces only
among the Gonds and one or two other tribes like the
Baigas, who have adopted it from them, and as some of the
names given above are also Gondi words, no doubt need be
entertained that the Arakhs of Chanda are largely of Gond
descent. They are probably, in fact, the offspring of
irregular connections between the Gonds and Pasis, who,
being both frequenters of the forests, would naturally
come much into contact with each other. And being
disowned by the true Pasis on account of their defective
pedigree, they have apparently set up as a separate caste
and adopted the name of Arakh to hide the deficiencies of
their ancestry.

The social customs of the Arakhs resemble those of
other low Hindu castes, and need not be given in detail.
Their weddings are held near a temple of Maroti, or if there
be none such, then at the place where the Holi fire was
lit in the preceding year. A bride-price varying from
Rs. 25 to Rs. 40 is usually paid. In the case of the

' Cajanus indiciis. '^ BerCir Census Report (1881), p. 157.

42 A TARI part

marriage of a widow, the second husband goes to the house
of the woman, where the couple are bathed and seated on
two wooden boards, a branch of a cotton-plant being placed
near them. The bridegroom then ties five strings of black
glass beads round the woman's neck. The dead are mourned
for one day only, and a funeral feast is given to the caste-
fellows. The Arakhs are a very low caste, but their touch
does not convey impurity.

I. General
notice.

2. Mar-
riage
customs.

Atari/ Gandhi, Bukekari. — A small Muhammadan
caste of retailers of scent, incense, tooth-powder and kunku
or pink powder. Atari is derived from atar or itra, attar
of roses, Gandhi comes from gandJi, a Sanskrit word for
scent. Bukekari is a Marathi word meaning a seller of
powder. The Ataris number about two hundred persons in
Nagpur, Wardha and Berar. Both Hindus and Muham-
madans follow the profession, but the Hindu Ataris are not
a separate caste, and belong to the Teli, Gurao and Beldar
castes. The Muhammadan Ataris, to whom this article
refers, may marry with other Muhammadans, with the
exception of low-class tradesmen like the Pinjaras, Kasais
and Kunjras. One instance of an Atari marrying a Rangrez
is known, but usually they decline to do so. But since
they are not considered to be the equals of ordinary Muham-
madans, they constitute more or less a distinct social group.
They are of the same position as Muhammadan tin- workers,
bangle-makers and pedlars, and sometimes intermarry with
them. They admit Hindu converts into the community,
but the women refuse to eat with them, and the better-
class families will not intermarry with converts. A new
convert must be circumcised, but if he is of advanced age,
or if his foreskin is wanting, as sometimes happens, they
take a rolled-up betel-leaf and cut it in two in substitution
for the rite.

It is essential that a girl should be married before
adolescence, as it is said that when the signs of puberty
appear in her before wedlock her parents commit a crime
equivalent to the shedding of human blood. The father

1 Based on papers by Mr. Bijai Hinganghat, and Munslii Kanhya Lai
Bahadur Royzada, Naib - Tahslldar of the Gazetteer office.

II MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 43

of the boy looks for a bride, and after droppin;^ hints to the
girl's family to see if his proposal is acceptable, he sends
some female relatives or friends to discuss the marriage.
Before the wedding the boy is presented with a clihiip or
ring of gold or silver with a small cup-like attachment.
A mehar or dowry must be given to the bride, the amount
of which is not below Rs. 50 or above Rs. 250. The
bride's parents give her cooking vessels, bedding and a
bedstead. After the wedding, the couple are seated on a
cot while the women sing songs, and they see each other's
face reflected in a minor. The procession returns after
a stay of four days, and is received by the women of the
bridegroom's family with some humorous ceremonies bearing
on the nature of marriage. A feast called Tamm Walima
follows, and the couple are shut up together in an inner
room, even though they may be under age. The marriage
includes some Hindu customs, such as the erection of the
pandal or shed, rubbing the couple with turmeric and oil,
and the tying on of kankans or wrist-bands. A girl going
wrong before marriage may be wedded with full rites so
long as she has not conceived, but after conception until
her child is born she cannot go through the ceremony at
all. After the birth of the child she may be married simply
with the rite for widows. She retains the child, but it has
no claim to succeed to her husband's property. A widow
may marry again after an interval of forty days from her
first husband's death, and she may wed her younger brother-
in-law. Divorce is permitted at the instance of either party,
and for mere disagreement. A man usually divorces his
wife by vowing in the presence of two witnesses that he
will in future consider intercourse with her as incestuous
in the same degree as with his mother. A divorced woman
has a claim to her nieJiar or dowry if not already paid, but
forfeits it if she marries again. A man can marry the
daughter of his paternal uncle. The services of a Kazi at
weddings are paid for with a fee of Rs. 1-4, and well-to-do
persons also give him a pair of turbans.

The Ataris are Muhammadans of the Sunni sect. They 3- Religion.
revere the Muhammadan saints, and on the night of Shabrat
they let off fireworks in honour of their ancestors and make

44 A TART part

offerings of hnhva ^ to them and place lamps and scent on
their tombs. They swear by the pig and abstain from eating
its flesh. The dog is considered an unclean animal and its
tail, ears and tongue are especially defiling. If the hair of
a dog falls on the ground they cannot pray in that place
because the souls of the prophets cannot come there. To
see a dog flapping its ears is a bad omen, and a person start-
ing on a journey should postpone his departure. They
esteem the spider, because they say it spread its web over the
mouth of the cave where Hasan and Husain lay concealed
from their enemies and thus prevented it from being searched.
Some of them have Pirs or spiritual preceptors, these being
Muhammadan beggars, not necessarily celibate. The cere-
mony of adhesion is that a man should drink sherbet from the
cup from which his preceptor has drunk. They do not observe
impurity after a death nor bathe on returning from a funeral.
Liquor is of course prohibited to the Ataris as to other
Muhammadans, but some of them drink it nevertheless.
Some of them eat beef and others abstain. The blood of
animals killed must flow before death according to the rite
of haldl, but they say that fish are an exception, because
when Abraham was offering up his son Ishmael and God sub-
stituted a goat, the goat bleated before it was killed, and
this offended Abraham, who threw his sacrificial knife into
the sea : the knife struck and killed a fish, and on this
account all fish are considered to be haldl or lawful food
without any further rite. The Ataris observe the Hindu
law of inheritance, and some of them worship Hindu
deities, as Mata the goddess of smallpox. As a rule their
women are not secluded. The Ataris make viissi or tooth-
powder from myrobalans, cloves and cardamoms, and other
constituents. This has the effect of blackening the teeth.
They also sell the kunku or red powder which women rub
on their foreheads, its constituents being turmeric, borax and
the juice of limes. They sell scent and sometimes deal in
tobacco. The scents most in demand are giildb-pdni or
rose-water and pJmlel or essence of tilli or sesamum. Scents
are usually sold by the tola of i 8 annas silver weight,^ and

' A preparation of raisins and other - The ordinary tola is a rupee weight

fruits and rice. or two-fifths of an ounce.

ir A UP up: LI A 45

a tola of attar may vary in price from 8 annas to Rs. 8o.
Other scents are made from klias-kkas grass, the mango,
henna and music, the bela flower,^ the champak " and cucumber.
Scent is manufactured by distillation from the flowers boiled
in water, and the drops of congealed vapour fall into sandal-
wood oil, which they say is the basis of all scents. Fragrant
oils are also sold for rubbing on the hair, made from orange
flowers, jasmine, cotton-seed and the flowers of the aonla tree.^
Scent is sold in tiny circular glass bottles, and the oils in
little bottles made from thin leather. The Ataris also retail
the little black sticks of incense which are set up and burnt
at the time of taking food and in temples, so that the smell
and smoke may keep off evil spirits. When professional
exorcists are called upon to clear any building, such as a
hospital, supposed to be haunted by spirits or the ghosts of
the dead, they commence operations by placing these sticks
of incense at the entrance and setting them alight as in a
temple.

Audhelia (Audhalia). — A small hybrid caste found i. Origin.
almost exclusively in the Bilaspur District, where they
number about looo persons. The name is derived from
the word Udharia, meaning a person with clandestine sexual
intimacies. The Audhelias are a mixed caste and trace
their origin from a Daharia Rajput ancestor, by one BhQri
Bandi, a female slave of unknown caste. This couple is
supposed to have resided in Ratanpur, the old capital of
Chhattisgarh, and the female ancestors of the Audhelias are
said to have been prostitutes until they developed into a
caste and began to marry among themselves. Their proper
avocation at present is the rearing of pigs, while some of
them are also tenants and farm-labourers. Owing to the
base descent and impure occupation of the caste they are
held in very low esteem, and their touch is considered to
convey pollution.

The caste have at present no endogamous divisions and 2. Mar-
still admit members of other castes with the exception of "^^^'
the very lowest. But social gradations exist to a certain

' Jasrnimiin zainbac. " Michelia chanipaca.

'^ Phyllanthus cinblica.

46 A UDHELIA part

extent among the members according to the position of their
male ancestors, a Daharia Audhelia, for instance, being
rekictant to eat or intermarry with a Panka Audhelia.
Under these circumstances it has become a rule among the
Audhelias not to eat with their caste-fellows excepting their
own relations. On the occasion of a caste feast, therefore,
each guest prepares his own food, taking only uncooked
grain from his host. At present seven gotras or exogamous
divisions appear to have been formed in the caste with
the names of Pachbhaiya, Chhahri, Kalkhor, Bachhawat,
Dhanawat, Bhainsa and Limuan. The following story exists
as to the origin of these gotras : There were formerly three
brothers, Sahasman, Budha and Mangal, who were Sansis
or robbers. One evening the three brothers halted in a
forest and went to look for food. One brought back a
buffalo-horn, another a peacock's feather and the youngest,
Mangal, brought plums. The other brothers asked Mangal
to let them share his plums, to which he agreed on condition
that one of the brothers should give his daughter to him in
marriage. As Mangal and his brothers were of one gotra
or section, and the marriage would thus involve splitting up
the gotra, the brothers were doubtful whether it could be
performed. They sought about for some sign to determine
this difficult question, and decided that if Mangal succeeded
in breaking in pieces an iron image of a cat simply by blows
of his naked fist, it would be a sufficient indication that they
might split up "CaoAx gotra. Mangal was therefore put to the
ordeal and succeeded in breaking the image, so the three
brothers split up their gotra, the eldest assuming the gotra
name of Bhainsa because he had found a buffalo-horn, the
second that of Kalkhor, which is stated to mean peacock, and
the third that of Chhahri, which at any rate does not mean a
plum. The word Chhahri means either ' shadow,' or ' one
who washes the clothes of a woman in confinement.' If we
assume it to have the latter meaning, it may be due to the
fact that Mangal had to wash the clothes of his own wife,
not being able to induce a professional washerman to do so
on account of the incestuous nature of the connection.
As the eldest brother gave his daughter in an incestuous
marriage he was also degraded, and became the ancestor

II XTARRrAGE 47

of the Kanjars or prostitutes, who, it is said, to the present
day do not solicit Audhelias in consideration of the con-
sanguinity existinc^ between tlicm. The story itself suf-
ficiently indicates the low and mixed descent of the
Audhelias, and its real meaning may possibly be that
when they first began to form a separate caste they per-
mitted incestuous marriages on account of the paucity of
their members. A curious point about the story is that the
incestuous nature of the connection is not taken to be the
most pressing objection to the marriage of Mangal with his
own niece, but the violation of the caste rule prohibiting
marriage within the same gotra. Bachhawat and Dhanawat
are the names of sections of the Banjara caste, and the
persons of these gotras among the Audhelias are probably the
descendants of illicit connections among Banjaras. The word
Pachbhaiya means ' five brothers,' and this name possibly
commemorates a polyandrous connection of some Audhelia
woman. Limuan means a tortoise, which is a section of
many castes. Several of the section-names are thus totemistic,
and, as in other castes, some reverence is paid to the animal
from whom the name is derived. At present the Audhelias
forbid marriage within the same gotra and also the union of
first cousins. Girls are married between five and seven years
of age as their numbers are scarce, and they are engaged as
early as possible. Unless weddings are arranged by ex-
changing girls between two families, a high bride-price, often
amounting to as much as Rs. 60, is paid. No stigma is in-
curred, however, if a girl should remain unmarried till she
arrives at adolescence, but, on the contrary, a higher price
is then obtained for her. Sexual licence either before or
after marriage is considered a venial offence, but a woman
detected in a liaison with a man of one of the lowest castes is
turned out of caste. Widow marriage and divorce are freely
allowed.

The Audhelias venerate Dulha Deo and Devi, to whom 3. Religion,
they usually offer pigs. Their principal festival is the Holi, ^lath^"
at which their women were formerly engaged to perform as
professional dancers. They usually burn their dead and
remove the ashes on the third day, throwing them into the
nearest stream. A few of the bones are picked up and

48 AUDHELIA part ii

buried under a pipal tree, and a pitcher with a hole in the
bottom is hung on the tree so that water may trickle down
on to them. On the tenth day the caste-people assemble
and are shaved and bathe and rub their bodies with oil
under the tree. Unmarried men and persons dying of
cholera are buried, the head being placed to the north.
They consider that if they place the corpse in the reverse
position it would be an insult to the Ganges equivalent to
kicking the holy river, as the feet of the body would then
be turned towards it.

BADHAK

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. Introductory notice. 9, Religion. Offering;s to an-

2. The Badhak dacoits. cestors.

3. Instances of dacoities. 10. The woiuided haunted by

4. Further instances of dacoi- spirits.

ties. II. Pious funeral observances.

5 . Disguise of religious iiiendi- 1 2 . Taking the omens.

cants. 13. Suppressio7i of dacoity.

6. Countenance and support of 1 4. The Badhaks or Baoris at the

landowners. present time.

7. Pride in their profession. 15. Lisard-hunting.

8. Caste rules a?id admission of 16. Social observances.

outsiders. 17. Criminal practices.

Badhak, Bagri, Baoria. — A famous tribe of dacoits i. intro-
who flourished up to about 1850, and extended their depreda- ^^°l''^
tions over the whole of Northern and Central India. The
Bagris and Baorias or Bawarias still exist and are well
known to the police as inveterate criminals ; but their
operations are now confined to ordinary burglary, theft and
cheating, and their more interesting profession of armed
gang-robbery on a large scale is a thing of the past. The
first part of this article is entirely compiled from the Report
on their suppression drawn up by Colonel Sleeman/ who
may be regarded as the virtual founder of the Thuggee and
Dacoity Department, Some mention of the existing Bagri
and Baoria tribes is added at the end.

The origin of the Badhaks is obscure, but they seem to 2. The
have belonged to Gujarat, as their peculiar dialect, still in jj^coit^^
use, is a form of Gujarati. The most striking feature in it
is the regular substitution of kh for s. They claimed to be

' Report on the Badhak or Bagri the Government of India for tlieir
Dacoits and the Measjtres adopted by Suppression, printed in 1849.
VOL. II 49 E

50 BADHAK part

Rajputs and were divided into clans with the well-known
Rajput names of Solanki, Panwar, Dhundhel, Chauhan,
Rathor, Gahlot, Bhatti and Charan. Their ancestors were
supposed to have fled from Chitor on one of the historical
occasions on which it was assaulted and sacked. But as
they spoke Gujarati it seems more probable that they be-
longed to Gujarat, a fertile breeding-place of criminals, and
they may have been descended from the alliances of Rajputs
with the primitive tribes of this locality, the Bhils and Kolis.
The existing Bagris are of short stature, one writer stating
that none of them exceed five feet two inches in height ; and
this seems to indicate that they have little Rajput blood.
It may be surmised that the Badhaks rose into importance
and found scope for their predatory instincts during the
period of general disorder and absence of governing authority
through which northern India passed after the decline of
the Mughal Empire. And they lived and robbed with the
connivance or open support of the petty chiefs and land-
holders, to whom they gave a liberal share of their booty.
The principal bands were located in the Oudh forests, but
they belonged to the whole of northern India including the
Central Provinces ; and as Colonel Sleeman's Report, though
of much interest, is now practically unknown, I have thought
it not out of place to compile an article by means of short
extracts from his account of the tribe.

In 1822 the operations of the Badhaks were being
conducted on such a scale that an officer wrote : " No
District between the Brahmaputra, the Nerbudda, the Satlej
and the Himalayas is free from them ; and within this vast
field hardly any wealthy merchant or manufacturer could feel
himself secure for a single night from the depredations of
Badhak dacoits. They had successfully attacked so many
of the treasuries of our native Sub-Collectors that it was
deemed necessary, all over the North-Western Provinces, to
surround such buildings with extensive fortifications. In
many cases they carried off our public treasure from strong
parties of our regular troops and mounted police ; and none
seemed to know whence they came or whither they fled with
the booty acquired." '

^ Sleeman, p. 10.

INSTANCES OF I) A CO /TIES 51

Colonel Sleeman thus described a dacoity in the town of 3. in-

Narsinghpur when he was in charge of that District: "In
February 1822, in the dusk of the evening, a party of about
thirty persons, with nothing seemingly but walking-sticks in
their hands, passed the piquet of sepoys on the bank of the
rivulet which separates the cantonment from the town of
Narsinghpur. On being challenged by the sentries they
said they were cowherds and that their cattle were following
close behind. Tliey walked up the street ; and coming
opposite the houses of the most wealthy merchants, they set
their torches in a blaze by blowing suddenly on pots filled
with combustibles, stabbed everybody who ventured to move
or make the slightest noise, plundered the houses, and in ten
minutes were away with their booty, leaving about twelve
persons dead and wounded on the ground. No trace of
them was discovered." Another well-known exploit of the
Badhaks was the attack on the palace of the ex-Peshwa, Baji
Rao, at Bithur near Cawnpore. This was accomplished by a
gang of about eighty men, who proceeded to the locality in
the disguise of carriers of Ganges water. Having purchased
a boat and a few muskets to intimidate the guard they
crossed the Ganges about six miles below Bithur, and reached
the place at ten o'clock at night ; and after wounding
eighteen persons who attempted resistance they possessed
themselves of property, chiefly in gold, to the value of more
than two and a half lakhs of rupees ; and retiring without
loss made their way in safety to their homes in the Oudh
forests. The residence of this gang was known to a British
police officer in the King of Oudh's service, Mr. Orr, and
after a long delay on the part of the court an expedition
was sent which recovered a portion of the treasure and
captured two or three hundred of the Badhaks. But none of
the recovered property reached the hands of Baji Rao and
the prisoners were soon afterwards released.^ Again in
1S39, a gang of about fifty men under a well-known
leader, Gajraj, scaled the walls of Jhansi and plundered
the Surafa or bankers' quarter of the town for two hours,
obtaining booty to the value of Rs. 40,000, which they
carried off without the loss of a man. The following

^ Sleeman, p. 10. 2 Sleeman, p. 57.

stances of
dacoities.

BADHAK

account of this raid was obtained by Colonel Sleeman from
one of the robbers : ^ " The spy {hirrowd) having returned
and reported that he had found a merchant's house in
Jhansi which contained a good deal of property, we
proceeded to a grove where we took the auspices by the
process of akut (counting of grains) and found the omens
favourable. We then rested three days and settled the
rates according to which the booty should be shared. Four
or five men, who were considered too feeble for the enter-
prise, were sent back, and the rest, well armed, strong and
full of courage, went on. In the evening of the fourth day
we reached a plain about a mile from the town, where we
rested to take breath for an hour ; about nine o'clock we
got to the wall and remained under it till midnight, pre-
paring the ladders from materials which we had collected
on the road. They were placed to the wall and we entered
and passed through the town without opposition. A mar-
riage procession was going on before us and the people
thought we belonged to it. We found the bankers' shops
closed. Thana and Saldewa, who carried the axes, soon
broke them open, while Kulean lighted up his torch. Gajraj
with twenty men entered, while the rest stood posted at the
different avenues leading to the place. When all the pro-
perty they could find had been collected, Gajraj hailed the
god Hanuman and gave orders for the retreat. W^e got
back safely to Mondegri in two days and a half, and then
reposed for two or three days with the Raja of Narwar,
with whom we left five or six of our stoutest men as a guard,
and then returned home with our booty, consisting chiefly
of diamonds, emeralds, gold and silver bullion, rupees and
about sixty pounds of silver wire. None of our people
were either killed or wounded, but whether any of the
bankers' people were I know not."

Colonel Sleeman writes elsewhere " of the leader of the
above exploit : " This Gajraj had risen from the vocation
of a bandarwdla (monkey showman) to be the Robin Hood
of Gwalior and the adjacent States ; he was the governor-
general of banditti in that country of banditti and kept
the whole in awe ; he had made himself so formidable that

^ Sleeman, p. 95. 2 Sleeman, p. 231.

II FURTHER INSTANCES OF DA CO [TIES 53

the Durbar ap[)ointcd him to keep the g/idts or ferries over
the Chambal, which he did in a very profitable manner to
them and to himself, and none entered or quitted the
country without paying blackmail." A common practice of
the Badhaks, when in need of a little ready money, was to
lie in wait for money-changers on their return from the
markets. These men take their bags of money with them
to the important bazars at a distance from their residence
and return home with them after dusk. The dacoits were
accustomed to watch for them in the darkest and most
retired places on the roads and fell them to the ground
with their bludgeons. This device was often practised and
usually succeeded.^ Of another Badhak chief, Meherban, it
is stated " that he hired a discharged sepoy to instruct his
followers in the European system of drill, that they might
travel with him in the disguise of regular soldiers, well
armed and accoutred. During the rains Meherban's spies
(Jtirrowa) were sent to visit the great commercial towns and
report any despatches of money or other valuables, which
were to take place during the following open season. His
own favourite disguise was that of a Hindu prince, while the
remainder of the gang constituted his retinue and escort.
On one occasion, assuming this character, he followed up
a boat laden with Spanish dollars which was being sent from
Calcutta to Benares ; and having attacked it at its moorings
at Makrai, he killed one and wounded ten men of the guard
and made off with 25,000 Spanish dollars and Rs. 2600
of the Company's coinage. A part of the band were sent
direct to the rendezvous previously arranged, while Meher-
ban returned to the grove where he had left his women and
proceeded with them in a more leisurely fashion to the same
place. Retaining the character of a native prince he halted
here for two days to celebrate the Holi festival. Marching
thence with his women conveyed in covered litters by hired
bearers who were changed at intervals, he proceeded to his
bivouac in the Oudh forests ; and at Seosagar, one of his
halting-places, he gave a large sum of money to a gardener
to plant a grove of mango trees near a tank for the benefit
of travellers, in the name of Raja Meherban Singh of Gaur

^ Sleeman, p. 217. '^ Sleeman, p. 20.

54 BADHAK part

in Oudh ; and promised him further alms on future occa-
sions of pilgrimage if he found the work progressing well,
saying that it was a great shame that travellers should be
compelled as he had been to halt without shade for them-
selves or their families during the heat of the day. He
arrived safely at his quarters in the forest and was received
in the customary fashion by a procession of women in their
best attire, who conducted him with dancing and music, like
a victorious Roman Proconsul, to his fort.^
5. Disguise But naturally not all the Badhaks could do things in

mendF°"^ the Style of Meherban Singh. The disguise which they
cants. most often assumed in the north was that of carriers of

Ganges water, while in Central India they often pretended
to be Banjaras travelling with pack-bullocks, or pilgrims, or
wedding -parties going to fetch the bride or bridegroom.
Sometimes also they took the character of religious
mendicants, the leader being the high priest and all the
rest his followers and disciples. One such gang, described
by Colonel Sleeman," had four or five tents of white and
dyed cloth, two or three pairs of 7iakkdras or kettle-drums
and trumpets, with a great number of buffaloes, cows, goats,
sheep and ponies. Some were clothed, but the bodies of
the greater part were covered with nothing but ashes, paint
and a small cloth waistband. But they always provided
themselves with five or six real Bairagis, whose services
they purchased at a very high price. These men were
put forward to answer questions in case of difficulty and
to bully the landlords and peasantry ; and if the people
demurred to the demands of the Badhaks, to intimidate
them by tricks calculated to play upon the fears of the
ignorant. They held in their hands a preparation of gun-
powder resembling common ashes ; and when they found
the people very stubborn they repeated their viafttras over
this and threw it upon the thatch of the nearest house, to
which it set fire. The explosion was caused by a kind of
fusee held in the hand which the people could not see, and
taking it for a miracle they paid all that was demanded.
Another method was to pretend to be carrying the bones
of dead relatives to the Ganges. The bones or ashes of

' Sleeman, p. 21. - Sleeman, p. 81.

II COUNTENANCE AND S(/P/'0/CT OE LANDOWNERS 55

the deceased, says ' Colonel Slceman, are carried to the
Ganges in bags, coloured red for females and white for
males. These bags are considered holy, and are not allowed
to touch the ground upon the way, and during halts in
the journey are placed on poles or triangles. The carriers
are regarded with respect as persons engaged upon a
pious duty, and seldom questioned on the road. When
a gang assumed this disguise they proceeded to their
place of rendezvous in small parties, some with red and
some with white bags, in which they carried the bones of
animals most resembling those of the human frame. These
were supported on triangles formed of the shafts on which
the spear -heads would be fitted when they reached their
destination and had prepared for action.

It would have been impossible for the Badhaks to exist 6. Counte-
and flourish as they did without the protection of the land- "l^lj'^sup.
owners on whose estates they lived ; and this they received port of
in full measure in return for a liberal share of their booty, o^wners.
When the chief of Karauli was called upon to dislodge a
gang witliin his territory, he expressed apprehension that the
coercion of the Badhaks might cause a revolution in the
State. He was not at all singular, says Colonel Sleeman, in
his fear of exasperating this formidable tribe of robbers.
It was common to all the smaller chiefs and the provincial
governors of the larger ones. They everywhere protected
and fostered the Badhaks, as did the landholders ; and the
highest of them associated with the leaders of gangs on terms
of equality and confidence. It was very common for a chief
or the governor of a district in times of great difficulty and
personal danger to require from one of the leaders of such
gangs a night-guard or palmig ki chauki : and no less so to
entertain large bodies of them in the attack and defence of
forts and camps whenever unusual courage and skill were
required. The son of the Raja of Charda exchanged turbans
with a Badhak leader, Mangal Singh, as a mark of the most
intimate friendship. This episode recalls an alliance of
similar character in Lorna Doom ; and indeed it would not
be difficult to find several points of resemblance between the
careers of the more enterprising Badhak leaders and the

' Sleeman, p. 82.

56 BADHAK part

Doones of Bagworthy ; but India produced no character on
the model of John Ridd, and it was reserved for an
Englishman, Colonel Sleeman, to achieve the suppression of
the Badhaks as well as that of the Thugs. After the fortress
and territory of Garhakota in Saugor had been taken by the
Maharaja Sindhia, Zalim Singh, a cousin of the dispossessed
Bundela chief, collected a force of Bundelas and Pindaris and
ravaged the country round Garhakota in 1 8 1 3. In the course
of his raid he sacked and burnt the town of Deori, and i 5,000
persons perished in the flames. Colonel Jean Baptiste,
Sindhia's general, obtained a number of picked Badhaks
from Rajputana and offered them a rich reward for the head
of Zalim Singh ; and after watching his camp for three
months they managed to come on him asleep in the tent of
a dancing-girl, who was following his camp, and stabbed
him to the heart. For this deed they received Rs. 20,000
from Baptiste with other valuable presents. Their reputa-
tion was indeed such that they were frequently employed
at this period both by chiefs who desired to take the lives of
others and by those who were anxious for the preservation
of their own. When it happened that a gang was caught
after a robbery in a native State, the custom was not infre-
quently to make them over to the merchant whose property
they had taken, with permission to keep them in confinement
until they should refund his money ; and in this manner by
giving up the whole or a part of the proceeds of their robbery
they were enabled to regain their liberty. Even if they were
sent before the courts, justice was at that time so corrupt
as to permit of easy avenues of escape for those who could
afford to pay ; and Colonel Sleeman records the deposition of
a Badhak describing their methods of briber}^ : " When police
officers arrest Badhaks their old women get round them and
give them large sums of money ; and they either release them
or get their depositions so written that their release shall be
ordered by the magistrates. If they are brought to court,
their old women, dressed in rags, follow them at a distance
of three or four miles with a thousand or two thousand
rupees upon ponies ; and these rupees they distribute among
the native officers of the court and get the Badhaks released.
These old women first ascertain from the people of the villages

II PRIDE IN TIIFJR PROFESSION 57

who are the Nazirs and Munshis of influence, and wait
upon them at their houses and make their bargains. If the
officials cannot effect their release, they take money from
the old women and send them off to the Sadar Court, with
letters of introduction to their friends, and advice as to the
rate they shall pay to each according to his supposed influ-
ence. This is the way that all our leaders get released, and
hardly any but useless men are left in confinement." ^

It may be noticed that these robbers took the utmost 7. Pride in
pleasure in their calling, and were most averse to the idea of profession.
giving it up and taking to honest pursuits. " Some of the
men with me," one magistrate wrote," " have been in jail for
twenty, and one man for thirty years, and still do not appear
to have any idea of abandoning their illegal vocation ; even
now, indeed, they look on what we consider an honest means
of livelihood with the most marked contempt ; and in relating
their excursions talk of them with the greatest pleasure,
much in the way an eager sportsman describes a boar-chase
or fox-hunt. While talking of their excursions, which were
to me really very interesting, their eyes gleamed with
pleasure ; and beating their hands on their foreheads and
breasts and muttering some ejaculation they bewailed the
hardness of their lot, which now ensured their never again
being able to participate in such a joyous occupation."
Another Badhak, on being examined, said he could not
recall a case of one of the community having ever given up
the trade of dacoity. " None ever did, I am certain of it, "
he continued.^ " After having been arrested, on our release
we frequently take lands, to make it appear we have left off
dacoity, but we never do so in reality ; it is only done as a
feint and to enable our zamindars (landowners) to screen
us." They sometimes paid rent for their land at the rate
of thirty rupees an acre, in return for the countenance and
protection afforded by the zamindars. " Our profession,"
another Badhak remarked,'* " has been a PadsJidhi Kdin
(a king's trade) ; we have attacked and seized boldly the
thousands and hundreds of thousands that we have freely

1 Sleeman, p. 152. Mr. Ramsay.

^ Sleeman, p. 127. This passage is -^ Sleeman, p. 129.

from a letter written by a magistrate, ■* Sleeman, p. 112.

58 BADHAK part

and nobly spent ; we have been all our lives wallowing in
wealth and basking in freedom, and find it hard to manage
with the few copper pice a day we get from you," At the
time when captures were numerous, and the idea was enter-
tained of inducing the dacoits to settle in villages and sup-
porting them until they had been trained to labour, several
of them, on being asked how much they would require to
support themselves, replied that they could not manage on
less than two rupees a day, having earned quite that sum by
dacoity. This amount would be more than twenty times the
wages of an ordinary labourer at the same period. Another
witness put the amount at one to two rupees a day, remark-
ing, ' We are great persons for eating and drinking, and we
keep several wives according to our means.' Of some of
them Colonel Sleeman had a high opinion, and he mentions
the case of one man, Ajit Singh, who was drafted into the
native army and rose to be commander of a company. " I
have seldom seen a man," he wrote,^ " whom I would
rather have with me in scenes of peril and difficulty." An
attempt of the King of Oudh's, however, to form a regiment
of Badhaks had ended in failure, as after a short time they
mutinied, beat their commandant and other officers and
turned them out of the regiment, giving as their reason that
the officers had refused to perform the same duties as the
men. And they visited with the same treatment all the
other officers sent to them, until they were disbanded by
the British on the province of Allahabad being made over to
the Company. Colonel Sleeman notes that they were never
known to offer any other violence or insult to females than
to make them give up any gold ornaments that they might
have about their persons. " In all my inquiries into the
character, habits and conduct of these gangs, I have never
found an instance of a female having been otherwise dis-
graced or insulted by them. They are all Hindus, and this
reverence for the sex pervades all Hindu society." " Accord-
ing to their own account also they never committed murder ;
if people opposed them they struck and killed like soldiers,
but this was considered to be in fair fight. It may be noted,
nevertheless, that they had little idea of clan loyalty, and

^ Sleeman, p. 124. 2 Sleem.an, p. 125.

II CASTE RULES AND ADMISSION OF OUTSIDERS 59

informed very freely against their fellows when this course
was to their advantage. They also stated that they could
not settle in towns ; they had always been accustomed to
live in the jungles and commit dacoitics upon the people of
the towns as a kind of shikar (sport) ; they delighted in it,
and they felt living in towns or among other men as a kind
of prison, and got quite confused {ghabrdye), and their women
even more than the men.

The Badhaks had a regular caste organisation, and 8. Caste

I H

members of the different clans married with each other like I^'^^^ig^"^,,
the Rajputs after whom they were named. They admitted ofout-
freely into the community members of any respectable
Hindu caste, but not the impure castes or Muhammadans.
But at least one instance of the admission of a Muham-
madan is given.^ The Badhaks were often known to the
people as Siarkhavva or jackal-eaters, or Sabkhawa, those
who eat everything. And the Muhammadan in question
was given jackal's flesh to eat, and having partaken of it
was considered to have become a member of the com-
munity. This indicates that the Badhaks were probably
accustomed to eat the flesh of the jackal at a sacrificial
meal, and hence that they worshipped the jackal, revering
it probably as the deity of the forests where they lived.
Such a veneration would account for the importance
attached to the jackal's cry as an omen. The fact of their
eating jackals also points to the conclusion that the Badhaks
were not Rajputs, but a low hunting caste like the Pardhis
and Bahelias. The Pardhis have Rajput sept names as well
as the Badhaks. No doubt a few outcaste Rajputs may
have joined the gangs and become their leaders. Others,
however, said that they abstained from the flesh of jackals,
snakes, foxes and cows and buffaloes. Children were
frequently adopted, being purchased in large numbers in
time of famine, and also occasionally kidnapped. They
were brought up to the trade of dacoity, and if they showed
sufficient aptitude for it were taken out on expeditions,
but otherwise left at home to manage the household affairs.
They were married to other adopted children and were
known as Ghulami or Slave Badhaks, like the Jangar

^ Sleeman, p. 147.

6o BADHAK part

Banjaras ; and like them also, after some generations, when
their real origin had been forgotten, they became full
Badhaks. It was very advantageous to a Badhak to have
a number of children, because all plunder obtained was
divided in regularly apportioned shares among the whole
community. Men who were too old to go on dacoity also
received their share, and all children, even babies born
during the absence of the expedition. The Badhaks said
that this rule was enforced because they thought it an
advantage to the community that families should be large
and their numbers should increase ; from which statement
it must be concluded that they seldom suffered any strin-
gency from lack of spoil. They also stated that Badhak
widows would go and find a second husband from among
the regular population, and as a rule would sooner or later
persuade him to join the Badhaks.
9. Reii- Like other Indian criminals the Badhaks were of a very

^!?".' . religious or superstitious disposition. They considered the

offerings to •=• ^ ^ _ ■' _

ancestors, gods of the Hindu creed as favouring their undertakings
so long as they were suitably propitiated by offering to
their temples and priests, and the spirits of the most
distinguished of their ancestors as exercising a vicarious
authority under these deities in guiding them to their prey
and warning them of danger.^ The following is an account
of a Badhak sacrifice given to Colonel Sleeman by the
Ajit Singh already mentioned. It was in celebration of a
dacoity in which they had obtained Rs. 40,000, out of
which Rs. 4500 were set aside for sacrifices to the gods
and charity to the poor. AjTt Singh said : " For offerings
to the gods we purchase goats, sweet cakes and spirits ;
and having prepared a feast we throw a handful of the
savoury food upon the fire in the name of the gods who
have most assisted us ; but of the feast so consecrated
no female but a virgin can partake. The offering is made
through the man who has successfully invoked the god
on that particular occasion ; and, as my god had guided us
this time, I was employed to prepare the feast for him
and to throw the offering upon the fire. The offering must
be taken up before the feast is touched and put upon the

' Sleeman, p. 104.

II Ol'FERINGS TO ANCESTORS 6i

fire, and a little water must be sprinkled on it. The savoury
smell of the food as it burns feaches the nostrils of the j^od
and delights him. On this as on most occasions I invoked
the spirit of Ganga Singh, my grandfather, and to him I
made the offering. I considered him to be the greatest
of all my ancestors as a robber, and him I invoked on this
solemn occasion. He never failed me when I invoked him,
and I had the greatest confidence in his aid. The spirits
of our ancestors can easily see whether we shall succeed
in what we are about to undertake ; and when we are to
succeed they order us on, and when we are not they make
signs to us to desist." Their mode ^ of ascertaining which
of their ancestors interested himself most in their affairs
was commonly this, that whenever a person talked inco-
herently in a fever or an epileptic fit, the spirit of one
or other of his ancestors was supposed to be upon him.
If they were in doubt as to whose spirit it was, one of them
threw down some grains of wheat or coloured glass beads,
a pinch at a time, saying the name of the ancestor he
supposed the most likely to be at work and calling odd
or even as he pleased. If the number proved to be as
he called it several times running while that name was
repeated, they felt secure of their family god, and proceeded
at once to sacrifice a goat or something else in his name.
When they were being hunted down and arrested by
Colonel Sleeman and his assistants, they ascribed their
misfortunes to the anger of the goddess Kali, because they
had infringed her rules and disregarded her signs, and said
that their forefathers had often told them they would one
day be punished for their disobedience."

Whenever one of the gang was wounded and was taken lo. The
with his wounds bleeding near a place haunted by a spirit, hTumed'^b
they believed the spirit got angry and took hold of him,^ spirits.
in the manner described by A jit Singh as follows: "The
spirit comes upon him in all kinds of shapes, sometimes
in that of a buffalo, at others in that of a woman, some-
times in the air above and sometimes from the ground
below ; but no one can see him except the wounded person

1 Sleeman, p. no. - Sleeman, p. 131.

^ Sleeman, p. 205.

62 BADHAK part

he is angry with and wants to punish. Upon such a
wounded person we always ^lace a naked sword or some
other sharp steel instrument, as spirits are much afraid of
weapons of this kind. If there be any good conjurer at
hand to charm away the spirits from the person wounded
he recovers, but nothing else can save him." In one case
a dacoit named Ghlsa had been severely wounded in an
encounter and was seized by the spirit of a banyan tree
as he was being taken away : " We made a litter with our
ropes and cloaks thrown over them and on this he was
carried off by four of our party ; at half a mile distant the
road passed under a large banyan tree and as the four men
carried him along under the tree, the spirit of the place fell
upon him and the four men who carried him fell down with
the shock. They could not raise him again, so much were
they frightened, and four other men were obliged to lift him
and carry him off." The man died of his wounds soon
after they reached the halting-place, and in commenting on
this Ajit Singh continued : " When the spirit seized Ghisa
under the tree we had unfortunately no conjurer, and he,
poor fellow, died in consequence. It was evident that a
spirit had got hold of him, for he could not keep his head
upright ; it always fell down upon his right or left shoulder
as often as we tried to put it right ; and he complained
much of a pain in the region of the liver. We therefore
concluded that the spirit had broken his neck and was
consuming his liver."
II. Pious Like pious Hindus as they were, the Badhaks w^ere

funeral ob- accustomcd, whcncvcr it was possible, to preserve the bones

servances. r ■> r

of their dead after the body had been burnt and carry them
to the Ganges, If this was not possible, however, and the
exigencies of their profession obliged them to make away
with the body without the performance of due funeral rites,
they cut off two or three fingers and sent these to the Ganges
to be deposited instead of the whole body.^ In one case a
dacoit, Kundana, was killed in an affray, and the others
carried off his body and thrust it into a porcupine's hole
after cutting off three of the fingers. " We gave Kundana's
fingers to his mother," Ajit Singh stated, " and she sent them

' Sleeman, p. io6.

11 TAKING THE OMENS 63

with due offerings and ceremonies to the Ganges by the
hands of the family priest. She gave this priest money to
purchase a cow, to be presented to the priests in the name of
her deceased son, and to distribute in charity to the poor and
to holy men. She got from us for these purposes eighty
rupees over and above her son's share of the booty, while
his widow and children continued to receive their usual
share of the takings of the gang so long as they remained
with us."

Before setting out on an expedition it was their regular 12- Taking
custom to take the omens, and the following account may be
quoted of the preliminaries to an expedition of the great
leader, Meherban Singh, who has already been mentioned :
" In the latter end of that year, Meherban and his brother set
out and assembled their friends on the bank of the Bisori
river, where the rate at which each member of the party
should share in the spoil was determined in order to secure
to the dependants of any one who should fall in the enter-
prise their due share, as well as to prevent inconvenient
disputes during and after the expedition. The party
assembled on this occasion, including women and children,
amounted to two hundred, and when the shares had been
determined the goats were sacrificed for the feast. Each
leader and member of the gang dipped his finger in the
blood and swore fidelity to his engagements and his asso-
ciates under all circumstances. The v^hole feasted together
and drank freely till the next evening, when Meherban
advanced with about twenty of the principal persons to a
spot chosen a little way from the camp on the road they
proposed to take in the expedition, and lifting up his hands
in supplication said aloud, ' If it be thy will, O God, and
thine, Kali, to prosper our undertaking for the sake of the
blind and the lame, tJie widoiv and tJie orpJian, who depend
upon our exertions for subsistence, vouchsafe, we pray thee,
the call of the female jackal.' All his followers held up
their hands in the same manner and repeated these words
after him. All then sat down and waited in silence for
the reply or spoke only in whispers. At last the cry of
the female jackal was heard three times on the left, and
believing her to have been inspired by the deity for

64 BADHAK part

their guidance they were all much rejoiced." The follow-
ing was another more elaborate method of taking omens
described by Ajit Singh : " When we speak of seeking
omens from our gods or Devi Deota, we mean the spirits
of those of our ancestors who performed great exploits in
dacoity in their day, gained a great name and established
lasting reputations. For instance, Mahajit, my grandfather,
and Sahiba, his father, are called gods and admitted to
be so by us all. We have all of us some such gods to be
proud of among our ancestors ; we propitiate them and ask
for favourable omens from them before we enter upon
any enterprise. We sometimes propitiate the Suraj Deota
(sun god) and seek good omens from him. We get tv/o
or three goats or rams, and sometimes even ten or eleven,
at the place where we determine to take the auspices,
and having assembled the principal men of the gang we
put water into the mouth of one of them and pray to the
sun and to our ancestors thus : ' O thou Sun God ! And
O all ye other Gods ! If we are to succeed in the enter-
prise we are about to undertake we pray you to cause
these goats to shake their bodies.' If they do not shake
them after the gods have been thus duly invoked, the enter-
prise must not be entered upon and the goats are not
sacrificed. We then try the auspices with wheat. We
burn frankincense and scented wood and blow a shell ; and
taking out a pinch of wheat grains, put them on the cloth
and count them. If they come up odd the omen is favour-
able, and if even it is bad. After this, which we call the
auspices of the Akut, we take that of the Siarni or female
jackal. If it calls on the left it is good, but if on the right
bad. If the omens turn out favourable in all three trials
then we have no fear whatever, but if they are favour-
able in only one trial out of the three the enterprise must be
given up."
13. Sup- Between 1837 and 1849 the suppression of the regular

dacoTt°" °^ practice of armed dacoity was practically achieved by Colonel
Sleeman. A number of officers were placed under his orders,
and with small bodies of military and police were set to hunt
down different bands of dacoits, following them all over
India when necessary. And special Acts were passed to

II HA 1)11 A KS OR liAORlS AR TllJi J'RKSJiNI' 77/1//:' 65

enable the offence of dacoity, wherever committed, to be
tried by a com[)ctent magistrate in any part of India as had
been done in the case of the Thugs. Many of the Badhaks
received conditional pardons, and were drafted into the police
in different stations, and an agricultural labour colony was
also formed, but does not seem to have been altogether
successful. During these twelve years more than 1200
dacoits in all were brought to trial, while some were killed
during the operations, and no doubt many others escaped
and took to other avocations, or became ordinary criminals
when their armed gangs were broken up. In 1825 it had
been estimated that the Oudh forests alone contained from
4000 to 6000 dacoits, while the property stolen in 1 8 i i
from known dacoities was valued at ten lakhs of rupees.

The Badhaks still exist, and are well known as one m- The
of the worst classes of criminals, practising ordinary o'rBaori's
house-breaking and theft. The name Badhak is now less at the
commonly used than those of Bagri and Baori or Bawaria, time!"
both of which were borne by the original Badhaks. The
word Bagri is derived from a tract of country in Malwa
which is known as the Bagar or ' hedge of thorns,' because
it is surrounded on all sides by wooded hills.^ There are
Bagri Jats and Bagri Rajputs, many of whom are now highly
respectable landholders. Bawaria or Baori is derived from
bdnwar, a creeper, or the tendril of a vine, and hence a
noose made originally from some fibrous plant and used
for trapping animals, this being one of the primary occupa-
tions of the tribe.^ The term Badhak signifies a hunter
or fowler, hence a robber or murderer (Platts). The Bagris
and Bawarias are sometimes considered to be separate
communities, but it is doubtful whether there is any real
distinction between them. In Bombay the Bagris are known
as Vaghris by the common change of b into v. A good
description of them is contained in Appendix C to Mr.
Bhimbhai Kirparam's volume Hindus of Gujarat in the
Bombay Gazetteer. He divides them into the Chunaria or
lime-burners, the Datonia or sellers of twig tooth-brushes,
and two other groups, and states that, " They also keep

^ Malcolm's Memoir of Central ^ Ciooke's Tribes and Castes, art.

India, ii. p. 479. Bawaria.

VOL. II F

hunting

66 BADHAK part

fowls and sell eggs, catch birds and go as shikaris or
hunters. They traffic in green parrots, which they buy
from Bhils and sell for a profit."
15. Lizard- Their strength and powers of endurance are great, the

same writer states, and they consider that these qualities are
obtained by the eating of the goh and sdndJia or iguana
lizards, which a Vaghri prizes very highly. This is also
the case with the Bawarias of the Punjab, who go out
hunting lizards in the rains and may be seen returning
with baskets full of live lizards, which exist for days without
food and are killed and eaten fresh by degrees. Their
metnod of hunting the lizard is described by Mr. Wilson
as follows : ^ " The lizard lives on grass, cannot bite severely,
and is sluggish in his movements, so that he is easily caught.
He digs a hole for himself of no great depth, and the
easiest way to take him is to look out for the scarcely
perceptible airhole and dig him out ; but there are various
ways of saving oneself this trouble. One, which I have
seen, takes advantage of a habit the lizard has in cold
weather (when he never comes out of his hole) of coming
to the mouth for air and warmth. The Chuhra or other
sportsman puts off his shoes and steals along the prairie
till he sees signs of a lizard's hole. This he approaches on
tiptoe, raising over his head with both hands a mallet with
a round sharp point, and fixing his eyes intently upon the
hole. When close enough he brings down his mallet with
all his might on the ground just behind the mouth of
the hole, and is often successful in breaking the lizard's
back before he awakes to a sense of his danger. Another
plan, which I have not seen, is to tie a wisp of grass
to a long stick and move it over the hole so as to make
a rustling noise. The lizard within thinks, * Oh here's a
snake ! I may as well give in,' and comes to the mouth of
the hole, putting out his tail first so that he may not see his
executioner. The sportsman seizes his tail and snatches him
out before he has time to learn his mistake." This common
fondness for lizards is a point in favour of a connection
between the Gujarat Vaghris and the Punjab Bawarias.

In Sirsa the great mass of the Bawarias are not given to

^ Sirsa Settlement Report.

II SOCIAL O USE RVA NCES—CRIM 1 NA I . I'NACl'lCliS 67

crime, and in Gujarat also they do not appear to have s[)ccial )'>. Suti.ii
criminal tendencies. It is a curious point, however, that ''^^^l^'
Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam emphasises the chastity of the
women of the Gujarat Vagjhris.^ " When a family returns
home after a money-making tour to Bombay or some other
city, the women are taken before Vihat (Devi), and with the
women is brought a buffalo or a sheep that is tethered in
front of Vihat's shrine. They must confess all, even their
slightest shortcomings, such as the following : ' Two weeks
ago, when begging in Parsi Bazar-street, a drunken sailor
caught me by the hand. Another day a Miyan or Musalmiin
ogled me, and forgive me, Devi, my looks encouraged him.'
If Devi is satisfied the sheep or buffalo shivers, and is then
sacrificed and provides a feast for the caste. " "" On the other
hand, Mr. Crooke states^ that in northern India, "The
standard of morality is very low because in Muzaffarnagar
it is extremely rare for a Bawaria woman to live with her
husband. Almost invariably she lives with another man :
but the official husband is responsible for the children."
The great difference in the standard of morality is certainly
surprising.

In Gujarat"* the Vaghris have gurus or religious pre-
ceptors of their own. These men take an eight-anna silver
piece and whisper in the ear of their disciples " Be immortal."
. . . "The Bhuvas or priest- mediums play an important
part in many Vaghri ceremonies. A Bhuva is a male child
born after the mother has made a vow to the goddess Vihat
or Devi that if a son be granted to her she will devote him
to the service of the goddess. No Bhuva may cut or shave
his hair on pain of a fine of ten rupees, and no Bhuva may
eat carrion or food cooked by a Muhammadan."

The criminal Bagris still usually travel about in the 17- Crim-
disguise of Gosains and Bairagis, and are very difficult of practices,
detection except to real religious mendicants. Their house-
breaking implement or jemmy is known as Gjdn, but in
speaking of it they always add Das, so that it sounds like

1 It would appear that the Gujarat ^ Ajj-, Bawaria, quoting from North
Vaghris are a distinct class from the Indian Notes and Queries, i. 5 1 .
criminal section of the tribe.

2 Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hin- •* Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of
dtis, p. 514. Gujarat, p. 574.

68 BADHAK part

the name of a Bairagi.^ They are usually very much afraid
of the gydn being discovered on their persons, and are careful
to bury it in the ground at each halting-place, while on the
march it may be concealed in a pack-saddle. The means of
identifying them, Mr. Kennedy remarks,'^ is by their family
dco or god, which they carry about when wandering with
their families. It consists of a brass or copper box contain-
ing grains of wheat and the seeds of a creeper, both soaked
in ghi (melted butter). The box with a peacock's feather
and a bell is wrapped in two white and then in two red
cloths, one of the white cloths having the print of a man's
hand dipped in goat's blood upon it. The grains of wheat
are used for taking the omens, a few being thrown up at sun-
down and counted afterwards to see whether they are odd
or even. When even, two grains are placed on the right
hand of the omen -taker, and if this occurs three times
running the auspices are considered to be favourable.^
Mr. Gayer ^ notes that the Badhaks have usually from one to
three brands from a hot iron on the inside of their left wrist.
Those of them who are hunters brand the muscles of the
left wrist in order to steady the hand when firing their
matchlocks. The customs of wearing a peculiar necklace of
small wooden beads and a kind of gold pin fixed to the front
teeth, which Mr. Crooke ^ records as having been prevalent
some years ago, have apparently been since abandoned, as
they are not mentioned in more recent accounts. The
Dehliwal and Malpura Baorias have, Mr. Kennedy states,^
an interesting system of signs, which they mark on the
walls of buildings at important corners, bridges and cross-
roads and on the ground by the roadside with a stick, if no
building is handy. The commonest is a loop, the straight
line indicating the direction a gang or individual has
taken :

IIL

' Gunlhorpe's Criminal Tribes. ■* C. P. Police Lccliircs, art. Badhak.

'^ Criminal Classes in ike Bombay ^ ^ ^ -,^-

n J J' 0 ^^[_ hawaria, i)aia. 12.

Presidency, p. 151. '

^ Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes, art. " Criminal Classes in the Bombay

Badhak. Presidency, p. 179.

II HA I IN A 69

Tlic addition of a number of vertical strokes inside the loop
sii^nifics the luiinber of males in a gang. If these strokes
are enclosed by a circle it means that the gang is encamped
in the vicinity ; while a square inside a circle and line as
below means that property has been secured by friends who

have left in the direction pointed by the line. It is said that
Baorias will follow one another up for fifty or even a hundred
miles by means of these hieroglyphics. The signs are bold
marks, sometimes even a foot or more in length, and are
made where they will at once catch the eye. When the
Murwari Baorias desire to indicate to others of their caste,
who may follow in their footsteps, the route taken, a member
of the gang, usually a woman, trails a stick in the dust
as she walks along, leaving a spiral track on the ground.
Another method of indicating the route taken is to place
leaves under stones at intervals along the road.^ The form
of crime most in favour among the ordinary Baoris is house-
breaking by night. Their common practice is to make a hole
in the wall beside the door through which the hand passes
to raise the latch ; and only occasionally they dig a hole in
the base of the wall to admit of the passage of a man,
while another favoured alternative is to break in through a
barred window, the bars being quickly and forcibly bent and
drawn out.^ One class of Marwari Bagris are also expert
coiners.

Bahna, Pinjara, Dhunia.^ — The occupational caste of i. Nomen-
cotton-cleaners. The Bahnas numbered 48,000 persons in |^,-,^eJ^^^i^"
the Central Provinces and Berar in 191 1. The large stmciure.
increase in the number of ginning-factories has ruined the
Bahna's trade of cleaning hand-ginned cotton, and as no
distinction attaches to the name of Bahna it is possible
that members of the caste who have taken to other occu-
pations may have abandoned it and returned themselves

1 Kennedy, loc. cit. p. 208. paper by Munshi Kanhya Lai of the

'^ Kennedy, loc. cit. p. 185. Gazetteer office.

■^ This article is partly based on a

JO BANNA TART

simply as Muhammadans, The three names Bahna, Pinjara,
Dhunia appear to be used indifferently for the caste in
this Province, though in other parts of India they are dis-
tinguished. Pinjara is derived from the word pinjan used
for a cotton-bow, and Dhunia is from dJnmna, to card cotton.
The caste is also known as Dhunak Pathani. Though
professing the Muhammadan religion, they still have many
Hindu customs and ceremonies, and in the matter of in-
heritance our courts have held that they are subject to
Hindu and not Muhammadan law.^ In Raipur a girl
receives half the share of a boy in the division of inherited
property. The caste appears to be a mixed occupational
group, and is split into many territorial subcastes named
after the different parts of the country from which its
members have come, as Badharia from Badhas in Mirzapur,
Sarsutia from the Saraswati river, Berari of Berar, Dakhni
from the Deccan, Telangi from Madras, Pardeshi from
northern India, and so on. Two groups are occupational,
the Newaris of Saugor, who make the thick newdr tape
used for the webbing of beds, and the Kanderas, who make
fireworks and generally constitute a separate caste. There
is considerable ground for supposing that the Bahnas are
mainly derived from the caste of Telis or oil-pressers. In
the Punjab Sir D. Ibbetson says ^ that the Penja or cotton-
scutcher is an occupational name applied to Telis who
follow this profession ; and that the Penja, Kasai and Teli
are all of the same caste. Similarly in Nasik the Telis
and Pinjaras are said to form one community, under the
government of a single panchayat. In cases of dispute or
misconduct the usual penalty is temporary excommunica-
tion, which is known as the stopping of food and water.^
The Telis are an enterprising community of very low status,
and would therefore be naturally inclined to take to other
occupations ; many of them are shopkeepers, cultivators
and landholders, and it is quite probable that in past
times they took up the Bahna's profession and changed
their religion with the hope of improving their social status.

' Sir \'>. Robertson's C.P. Census paras. 646, 647.
/Report (1 89 1), p. 203. ^ Ni'isik Gazetteer, pp. 84, 85.

'^ Punjab Census Rep07-l (1881),

II MARRIAGE 71

The TcHs are generally considered to be quarrelsome and
talkative, and the Bahnas or Dhunias have the same
characteristics. If one man abusing another lapses into
Billingsgate, the other will say to him, ' Hainko JuldJia
Dhunia neJi Jdno,' or ' Don't talk to me as if I u^as a
Juliiha or a Dhunia.'

Some Bahnas have exogamous sections with Hindu 2. Mar-
names, while others are without these, and simply regulate '^'^•^^'
their marriages by rules of relationship. They have the
primitive Hindu custom of allowing a sister's son to marry
a brother's daughter, but not vice versa. A man cannot
marry his wife's younger sister during her lifetime, nor her
elder sister at any time. Children of the same foster-
mother are also not allowed to marry. Their marriages
are performed by a Kazi with an imitation of the Nikah rite.
The bridegroom's party sit under the marriage-shed, and the
bride with the women of her party inside the house. The
Kazi selects two men, one from the bride's party, who is
known as the Nikahi Bap or ' Marriage Father,' and the
other from the bridegroom's, who is called the Gowah
or ' Witness.' These two men go to the bride and ask
her whether she accepts the bridegroom, whose name is
stated, for her husband. She answers in the affirmative,
and mentions the amount of the dowry which she is to
receive. The bridegroom, who has hitherto had a veil
{imck/ma) over his face, now takes it off, and the men go
to him and ask him whether he accepts the bride. He
replies that he does, and agrees to pay the dowry demanded
by her. The Kazi reads some texts and the guests are
given a meal of rice and sugar. Many of the preliminaries
to a Hindu marriage are performed by the more backward
members of the caste, and until recently they erected a
sacred post in the marriage -shed, but now they merely
hang the green branch of a mango tree to the roof The
minimum amount of the vie/iar or dowry is said to be
Rs. 125, but it is paid to the girl's parents as a bride-
price and not to herself, as among the Muhammadans.
A widow is expected, but not obliged, to marry her
deceased husband's younger brother. Divorce is permitted
by means of a written deed known as ' Farkhati.'

BAHNA

The Bahnas venerate Muhammad, and also worship the
tombs of Muhammadan saints or Pirs. A green sheet or
cloth is spread over the tomb and a lamp is kept burning
by it, while offerings of incense and flowers are made.
When the new cotton crop has been gathered they lay
some new cotton by their bow and mallet and make an
offering of viallda or cakes of flour and sugar to it. They
believe that two angels, one good and one bad, are perched
continually on the shoulders of every man to record his
good and evil deeds. And when an eclipse occurs they
say that the sun and moon have gone behind a pinnacle
or tower of the heavens. For exorcising evil spirits they
write texts of the Koran on paper and burn them before
the sufferer. The caste bury the dead with the feet point-
ing to the south. On the way to the grave each one of
the mourners places his shoulder under the bier for a
time, partaking of the impurity communicated by it.
Incense is burnt daily in the name of a deceased person
for forty days after his death, with the object probably
of preventing his ghost from returning to haunt the house.
Muhammadan beggars are fed on the tenth day. Similarly,
after the birth of a child a woman is unclean for forty
days, and cannot cook for her husband during that period.
A child's hair is cut for the first time on the tenth or
twelfth day after birth, this being known as Jhalar. Some
parents leave a lock of hair to grow on the head in the
name of the famous saint Sheikh Farid, thinking that they
will thus ensure a long life for the child. It is probably in
reality a way of preserving the Hindu choti or scalp-lock.

The hereditary calling ^ of the Bahna is the cleaning or
scutching of cotton, which is done by subjecting it to the
vibration of a bow-string. The seed has been previously
separated by a hand-gin, but the ginned cotton still contains
much dirt, leaf-fibre and other rubbish, and to remove this is
the Bahna's task. The bow is somewhat in the shape of a
harp, the wide end consisting of a broad piece of wood over
which the string passes, being secured to a straight wooden
bar at the back. At the narrow end the bar and string
arc fixed to an iron ring. The string is made of the

' Cr<Joke's lyibes and Castes, art. Bahna.

II occur ATION 73

sinew of some animal, and this renders the implement
objectionable to Hindus, and may account for the liahnas
being Muhammadans. The club or mallet is a wooden
implement shaped like a dumb-bell. The bow is suspended
from the roof so as to hang just over the pile of loose cotton ;
and the worker twangs the string with the mallet and then
draws the mallet across the string, each three or four times.
The string strikes a small portion of the cotton, the fibre
of which is scattered by the impact and thrown off in a
uniform condition of soft fluff, all dirt being at the same
time removed. This is the operation technically known as
teasing. Buchanan remarked that women frequently did the
work themselves at home, using a smaller kind of bow called
dlmnkara. The clean cotton is made up into balls, some of
which are passed on to the spinner, while others are used for
the filling of quilts and the padded coats worn in the cold
weather. The ingenious though rather clumsy method of the
Bahna has been superseded by the ginning-factory, and little
or no cotton destined for the spindle is now cleaned by him.
The caste have been forced to take to cultivation or field
labour, while many have become cartmen and others are
brokers, peons or constables. Nearly every house still has its
pinjajt or bow, but only a desultory use is made of this during
the winter months. As it is principally used by a Muham-
madan caste it seems a possible hypothesis that the cotton-bow
was introduced into India by invaders of that religion. The
name of the bow, pinj'an, is, however, a Sanskrit derivative,
and this is against the above theory. It has already been
seen that the fact of animal sinew being used for the string
would make it objectionable to Hindus. The Bahnas
are subjected to considerable ridicule on account of their
curious mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan ceremonies,
amounting in some respects practically to a caricature of
the rites of Islam ; and further, they share with the
weaver class the contempt shown to those who follow a
calling considered more suitable for women than men. It is
related that when the Mughal general Asaf Khan first made
an expedition into the north of the Central Provinces he
found the famous Gond- Rajput queen Durgavati of the
Garha-Mandla dynasty governing with success a large and

74 BAHNA part

prosperous state in this locality. He thought a country-
ruled by a woman should fall an easy prey to the Muham-
madan arms, and to show his contempt for her power he
sent her a golden spindle. The queen retorted by a present
of a gold cotton-cleaner's bow, and this so enraged the Mughal
that he proceeded to attack the Gond kingdom. The story
indicates that cotton-carding is considered a Muhammadan
profession, and also that it is held in contempt.

Various sayings show that the Bahna is not considered
a proper Muhammadan, as

Turuk to Turuk
Aiir BaJina Tm'iik,

or ' A Muhammadan (Turk) is a Muhammadan and the
Bahna is also a Muhammadan ' ; and again —

Achera^ Kachera, Pinjdra,
AIuham7nad se dfir, Din se niyura^

or ' The Kachera and Pinjara are lost to Muhammad and
far from the faith ' ; and again —

Adho Hindu ad/io Musabndn
Tink/ton kahcn DJiiinak Pat/iiln,

or ' Half a Hindu and half a Muhammadan, that is he who
is a Dhunak Pathan.' They have a grotesque imitation of
the Muhammadan rite of halill, or causing an animal's blood
to flow on to the ground with the repetition of the kalma or
invocation ; thus it is said that when a Bahna is about to
kill a fowl he addresses it somewhat as follows :

Kdhe karkarat hai ?

KdJie barbardt hai ?

Kdhe jai jai log07t ka duna khdt hdi?

Tor kidniat inor nidviat,

Bismilldh hai iuch,

or " Why do you cackle ? Why do you crow ? Why do
you eat other people's grain ? Your death is my feast ; I
touch you in the name of God." And saying this he puts
a knife to the fowl's throat. The vernacular verse is a good

* The word Achera is merely a jingle put in to make the rhyme complete.
Kachera is a maker of glass bangles.

II /'ROVFRHS ABOUT /1A//NAS 75

imitation of the cackling of a fowl. And again, they slice
off the top of an egg as if they were killing an animal and
repeat the formula, " White dome, full of moisture, I know
not if there is a male or female within ; in the name of God
I kill you." A person whose memory is not good enough
to retain these texts will take a knife and proceed to one
who knows them. Such a man will repeat the texts over
the knife, blowing on it as he does so, and the Bahna con-
siders that the knife has been sanctified and retains its virtue
for a week. Others do not think this necessary, but have a
special knife, which having once been consecrated is always
kept for killing animals, and descends as an heirloom in the
family, the use of this sacred knife being considered to make
the repetition of the kalma unnecessary. These customs are,
however, practised only by the ignorant members of the
caste in Raipur and Bilaspur, and are unknown in the more
civilised tracts, where the Bahnas are rapidly conforming
to ordinary Muhammadan usage. Such primitive Bahnas
perform their marriages by walking round the sacred post,
keep the Hindu festivals, and feed Brahmans on the tenth
day after a death. They have a priest whom they call their
Kazi, but elect him themselves. In some places when a
Bahn-a goes to the well to draw water he first washes the
parapet of the well to make it ceremonially clean, and then
draws his water. This custom can only be compared with
that of the Raj-Gonds who wash the firewood with which
they are about to cook their food, in order to make it more
pure. Respectable Muhammadans naturally look down on
the Bahnas, and they retaliate by refusing to take food or
watqr from any Muhammadan who is not a Bahna. By
such strictness the more ignorant think that they will enhance
their ceremonial purity and hence their social consideration ;
but the intelligent members of the caste know better and
are glad to improve themselves by learning from educated
Muhammadans. The other menial artisan castes among the
Muhammadans have similar ideas, and it is reported that a
Rangrez boy who took food in the house of one of the highest
Muhammadan officers of Government in the Province was
temporarily put out of caste. Another saying about the
Bahnas is —

76 BAHNA part ii

Sheik Jioji ki Sheikht,

Pathdnofi kl farr,
Tiirkott ki Tierkshdhi,

Bahnoii ki bharrr . . .

or ' Proud as a Sheikh, obstinate as a Pathan, royal as a
Turk, buzzing like a Bahna.' This refers to the noise of
the cotton-cleaning bow, the twang of which as it is struck
by the club is like a quail flying ; and at the same time to
the Bahna's loquacity. Another story is that a Bahna was
once going through the forest with his cotton-cleaning bow
and club or mallet, when a jackal met him on the path.
The jackal was afraid that the Bahna would knock him on
the head, so he said, " With thy bow on thy shoulder and
thine arrow in thy hand, whither goest thou, O King of
Delhi ? " The Bahna was exceedingly pleased at this and
replied, ' King of the forest, eater of wild plums, only the
great can recognise the great.' But when the jackal had
got to a safe distance he turned round and shouted, " With
your cotton-bow on your shoulder and your club in your
hand, there you go, you sorry Bahna." It is said also that
although the Bahnas as good Muhammadans wear beards,
they do not cultivate them very successfully, and many of
them only have a growth of hair below the chin and none
on the under-lip, in the fashion known as a goat's beard.
This kind of beard is thus proverbially described as ' Bahna
kaisi ddrhi' or *A Bahna's beard.' It may be repeated in
conclusion that much of the ridicule attaching to the Bahnas
arises simply from the fact that they follow what is considered
a feminine occupation, and the remainder because in their
ignorance they parody the rites of Islam. It may seem ill-
natured to record the sayings in which they are lampooned,
but the l^ahnas cannot read English, and these have an
interest as specimens of popular wit.

BAIGA

LIST OK PARA(n-iAPHS

1. The tribe iDtd ils offslioois. 6. Religion.

2. Tribal lege7ids. 7. Appearance and mode of life.

3. Tribal subdivisions. 8. Dress and food.

4. Afarriage. 9. Occupation.

5. Birth and funeral rites. 10. Language.

Baiga/ — A primitive Dravidian tribe whose home is i. The
on the eastern Satpura hills in the Mandla, Balaghfit and jj^ l^^
Bilaspur Districts. The number of the Baigas proper was shoots.
only 30,000 in 191 i. But the Binjhals or Binjhwars, a
fairly numerous caste in the Chhattlsgarh Division, and
especially in the Sambalpur District, appear to have been
originally Baigas, though they have dropped the original
caste name, become Hinduised, and now disclaim connection
with the parent tribe. A reason for this may be found in
the fact that Sambalpur contains several Binjhwar zamlndars,
or large landowners, whose families would naturally desire a
more respectable pedigree than one giving them the wild
Baigas of the Satpuras for their forefathers. And the evolu-
tion 9f the Binjhwar caste is a similar phenomenon to the
constitution of the Raj-Gonds, the Raj-Korkus, and other
aristocratic subdivisions among the forest tribes, who have
been admitted to a respectable position in the Hindu social
community. The Binjhwars, however, have been so success-
ful as to cut themselves off almost completely from connec-
tion with the original tribe, owing to their adoption of
another name. But in Balaghat and Mandla the Binjhwar

1 This article is based largely on a Ali Haqqani, B.A., Tahsildar, Dindori.

monograph by the Rev. J- Lampard, Some extracts have been made from

missionary, Baihar, and also on papers Colonel Ward's Mandla Settlement

by Muhammad Hanlf Siddlqi, forest Report (1869), and from Colonel

ranger, Bilaspur, and Mr. Muhammad Bloomfield's Azotes on ike Baigas.

78 BAIGA PART

subtribe is still recognised as tiie most civilised subdivision
of the Baigas. The Bhainas, a small tribe in Bilaspur, are
probably another offshoot, Kath-Bhaina being the name of
a subtribe of Baigas in that District, and Rai-Bhaina in
Balaghat, though the Bhainas too no longer admit identity
with the Baigas. A feature common to all three branches
is that they have forgotten their original tongue, and now
speak a more or less corrupt form of the Indo- Aryan
vernaculars current around them. Finally, the term Bhumia
or ' Lord of the soil ' is used sometimes as the name of a
separate tribe and sometimes as a synonym for Baiga.
The fact is that in the Central Provinces ^ Bhumia is the
name of an office, that of the priest of the village and local
deities, which is held by one of the forest tribes. In the
tract where the Baigas live, they, as the most ancient
residents, are usually the priests of the indigenous gods ; but
in Jubbulpore the same office is held by another tribe, the
Bharias. The name of the office often attaches itself to
members of the tribe, who consider it as somewhat more
respectable than their own, and it is therefore generally true
to say that the people known as Bhumias in Jubbulpore are
really Bharias, but in Mandla and Bilaspur they are Baigas.
In Mandla there is also found a group called Bharia-
Baigas. These are employed as village priests by Hindus,
and worship certain Hindu deities and not the Gond gods.
They may perhaps be members of the Bharia tribe of
Jubbulpore, originally derived from the Bhars, who have
obtained the designation of Baiga, owing to their employ-
ment as village priests. But they now consider themselves
a part of the Baiga tribe and say they came to Mandla from
Rewah. In Mandla the decision of a Baiga on a boundary
dispute is almost always considered as final, and this authority
is of a kind that commonly emanates from recognised
priority of residence." There seems reason to suppose that
the Baigas are really a branch of the primitive Bhuiya tribe
of Chota Nagpur, and that they have taken or been given
the name of Baiga, the designation of a village priest, on
migration into the Central Provinces. There is reason to

' In Bengal tlie Tihumia or BhumTj ^ Colonel Ward's Mandla Settlement

are an iniportanl tribe. Report (1868-69), P- 'SS-

II fh'I/lA/. I.I'A.I'INDS 79

believe tluit the Haiijas were once dominant in the Clihat-
tist^arh phu'n and the hills surrounding^ it wiiich adjoin
Chota Nai;[)ur, the home of the Bhuiyas. The considera-
tions in favour of this view are given in the article on
Bhuiya, to which reference may be made.

The Baigas, however, are not without some conceit of 2. rribai
themselves, as the following legend will show. In the *^^'^" ^'
beginning, they say, God created Nanga Baiga and Nangi
Baigin, the first of the human race, and asked them by what
calling they would choose to live. They at once said that
they would make their living by felling trees in the jungle,
and permission being accorded, have done so ever since.
They had two sons, one of whom remained a Baiga, while
the other became a Gond and a tiller of the soil. The sons
married their own two sisters who were afterwards born, and
while the elder couple are the ancestors of the Baigas,
from the younger are descended the Gonds and all the
remainder of the human race. In another version of the
story the first Baiga cut down two thousand old sal^ trees
in one day, and God told him to sprinkle a few grains of
kutki on the ashes, and then to retire and sleep for some
months, when on his return he would be able to reap a
rich harvest for his children. In this manner the habit of
shifting cultivation is accorded divine sanction. According
to Binjhwar tradition Nanga Baiga and Nangi Baigin
dwelt on the kajli ban paJidr, which being interpreted is
the hill of elephants, and may well refer to the ranges of
Mandla and Bilaspur. It is stated in the Ain-i-Akbari~
that the country of Garha- Mandla abounded in wild
elephants, and that the people paid their tribute in these
and gold mohurs. In Mandla the Baigas sometimes hang
out from their houses a bamboo mat fastened to a long
pole to represent a flag which they say once flew from the
palace of a Baiga king. It seems likely that the original
home of the tribe may have been the Chhattlsgarh plain and
the hill-ranges surrounding it. A number of estates in these
hills are held by landowners of tribes which are offshoots
of the Baigas, as the Bhainas and Binjhwars. The point is

1 Skorea rohnsta.
^ Jarrett's Ain-i-Akbari, vol. ii. p. ig6.

BAIGA

further discussed in the article on Bhuiya. Most of the
Baigas speak a corrupt form of the Chhattisgarhi dialect.
When they first came under the detailed observation of
English officers in the middle of the nineteenth century, the
tribe were even more solitary and retired than at present.
Their villages, it is said, were only to be found in places
far removed from all cleared and cultivated country. No
roads or well-defined paths connected them with ordinary
lines of traffic and more thickly inhabited tracts, but perched
away in snug corners in the hills, and hidden by convenient
projecting spurs and dense forests from the country round,
they could not be seen except when nearly approached,
and were seldom visited unless by occasional enterprising
Banias and vendors of country liquor. Indeed, without a
Baiga for a guide many of the villages could hardly be dis-
covered, for nothing but occasional notches on the trees
distineuished the tracks to them from those of the sambhar
and other wild animals.

The following seven subdivisions or subtribes are recog-
nised : Binjhwar, Bharotia, Narotia or Nahar, Raibhaina,
Kathbhaina, Kondwan or Kundi, and Gondwaina. Of these
the Binjhwar, Bharotia and Narotia are the best -known.
The name of the Binjhwars is probably derived from the
Vindhyan range, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit
vindliya, a hunter. The rule of exogamy is by no means
strictly observed, and in Kawardha it is said that these
three subcastes intermarry though they do not eat together,
while in Balaghat the Bharotias and Narotias both eat together
and intermarry. In both places the Binjhwars occupy
the highest position, and the other two subtribes will take
food from them. The Binjhwars consider themselves as
Hindus and abjure the consumption of buffalo's and cow's
flesh and rats, while the other Baigas will eat almost any-
thing. The Bharotias partially shave their heads, and in
Mandla are apparently known as Mundia or Mudia, or
" shaven." The Gondwainas eat both cow's flesh and
monkeys, and are regarded as the lowest subcaste. As
shown by their name they are probably the offspring of
unions between Baigas and Gonds. Similarly the Kondwans
apparently derive their name from the tract south of the

II MARRIACK 8i

Mahfinadi which is tKuncd after tlic Khoiid tribe, and was
formerly owned by them.

Each sLibtribe is divided into a number of exogamous
septs, the names of which are identical in many cases with
those of the Gonds, as Markam, Maravi, Netam, Tekam and
others. Gond names are found most frequently among the
Gondwainas and Narotias, and these have adopted from the
Gonds the prohibition of marriage between worshippers of
the same number of gods. Thus the four septs above
mentioned worship seven gods and may not intermarry.
But they may marry among other septs such as the Dhurua,
Pusam, Bania and Mawar who worship six gods. The
Baigas do not appear to have assimilated the further division
into worshippers of five, four, three and two gods which
exists among the Gonds in some localities, and the system is
confined to the lower subtribes. The meanings of the sept
names have been forgotten and no instances of totemism are
known. And the Binjhwars and Bharotias, who are more
or less Hinduised, have now adopted territorial names for
their septs, as Lapheya from Lapha zamlndari, Ghugharia
from Ghughri village in Mandia, and so on. The adoption
of Gond names and septs appears to indicate that Gonds
were in former times freely admitted into the Baiga tribe ;
and this continues to be the case at present among the lower
subtribes, so far that a Gond girl marrying a Baiga becomes
a regular member of the community. But the Binjhwars
and Bharotias, who have a somewhat higher status than the
others, refuse to admit Gonds, and are gradually adopting
the strict rule" of endogamy within the subtribe.

A Baiga must not take a wife from his own sept or from 4. Mar-
another one worshipping the same number of gods. But he "^^^'
may marry within his mother's sept, and in some localities
the union of first cousins is permitted. Marriage is adult
and the proposal comes from the parents of the bride, but in
some places the girl is allowed to select a husband for herself
A price varying from five to twenty rupees is usually paid to
the bride's parents, or in lieu of this the prospective husband
serves his father-in-law for a period of about two years, the
marriage being celebrated after the first year if his conduct
is satisfactory. Orphan boys who have no parents to arrange

VOL. II G

82 BAIGA PART

their marriages for them often take service for a wife. Three
ceremonies should precede the marriage. The first, which
may take place at any time after the birth of both children,
consists merely in the arrangement for their betrothal. The
second is only a ratification of the first, feasts being provided
by the boy's parents on both occasions. While on the ap-
proach of the children to marriageable age the final betrothal
or barokhi is held. The boy's father gives a large feast at
the house of the girl and the date of the wedding is fixed.
To ascertain whether the union will be auspicious, two
grains of rice are dropped into a pot of water, after various
preliminary solemnities to mark the importance of the occa-
sion. If the points of the grains meet almost immediately it
is considered that the marriage will be highly auspicious. If
they do not meet, a second pair of grains are dropped in,
and should these meet it is believed that the couple will
quarrel after an interval of married life and that the wife
will return to her father's house. While if neither of the two
first essays are successful and a third pair is required, the
regrettable conclusion is arrived at that the wife will run
away with another man after a very short stay with her hus-
band. But it is not stated that the betrothal is on that
account annulled. The wedding procession starts from the
bridegroom's house ^ and is received by the bride's father out-
side the village. It is considered essential that he should go
out to meet the bride's party riding on an elephant. But
as a real elephant is not within the means of a Baiga, two
wooden bedsteads are lashed together and covered with
blankets with a black cloth trunk in front, and this arrange-
ment passes muster for an elephant. The elephant makes
pretence to charge and trample down the marriage procession,
until a rupee is paid, when the two parties embrace each
other and proceed to the marriage-shed. Here the bride and
bridegroom throw fried rice at each other until they are tired,
and then walk three or seven times round the marriage-post
with their clothes tied together. It is stated by Colonel
Ward that the couple always retired to the forest to spend

' Colonel Ward gives the bride's custom formerly existed it has been
house as among the Gonds. But in- abandoned,
(juiry in Mandla shows that if tliis

11 III RTII AND FUNERAL RIIRS 83

the wedding night, but this custom has now been abandoned.
The expenditure on a marriage varies between ten and fifty
rupees, of which only about five rupees fall on the bride's
l)arents. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the
widow is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late hus-
band's younger brother, while if she takes another husband
he must pay her brother-in-law the sum of five rupees.
The ceremony consists merely of the presentation of bangles
and new clothes by the suitor, in token of her acceptance of
which the widow pours some tepid water stained with turmeric
over his head. Divorce may be effected by the husband and
wife breaking a straw in the presence of the caste panchdyat
or committee. If the woman remains in the same village
and does not marry again, the husband is responsible for her
maintenance and that of her children, while a divorced woman
may not remarry without the sanction of the pancJiayat so
long as her husband is alive and remains single. Polygamy
is permitted.

A woman is unclean for a month after childbirth, though 5. Birth
the Binjhwars restrict the period to eight days. At the
ceremony of purification a feast is given and the child is
named, often after the month or day of its birth, as
Chaitu, Phagu, Saoni, and so on, from the months of
Chait, Phagun and Shrawan. Children who appear to be
physically defective are given names accordingly, such as
Langra (lame), or Bahira (deaf). The dead are usually
buried, the bodies of old persons being burnt as a special
honour and to save them from the risk of being devoured by
wild animals. Bodies are laid naked in the grave with the
head pointing to the south. In the grave of a man of im-
portance two or three rupees and some tobacco are placed.
In some places a rupee is thrust into the mouth of the dying
man, and if his body is burnt, the coin is recovered from the
pyre by his daughter or sister, who wears it as an amulet.
Over the grave a platform is made on which a stone is
erected. This is called the Bhiri of the deceased and is
worshipped by his relatives in time of trouble. If one of
the family has to be buried elsewhere, the relatives go to the
BhIri of the great dead and consign his spirit to be kept in
their company. At a funeral the mourners take one black

and funeral
rites.

84 BAIGA PART

and one white fowl to a stream and kill and eat them there,
setting aside a portion for the dead man. Mourning is
observed for a period of from two to nine days, and during
this time labour and even household work are stopped, food
being supplied by the friends of the family. When a man
is killed by a tiger the Baiga priest goes to the spot and
there makes a small cone out of the blood-stained earth.
This must represent a man, either the dead man or one of
his living relatives. His companions having retired a few
paces, the priest goes on his hands and knees and performs
a series of antics which are supposed to represent the tiger
in the act of destroying the man, at the same time seizing
the lump of blood-stained earth in his teeth. One of the
party then runs up and taps him on the back with a small
stick. This perhaps means that the tiger is killed or other-
wise rendered harmless ; and the Baiga immediately lets the
mud cone fall into the hands of one of the party. It is then
placed in an ant-hill and a pig is sacrificed over it. The
next day a small chicken is taken to the place, and after a
mark supposed to be the dead man's name is made on its
head with red ochre, it is thrown back into the forest, the
priest exclaiming, ' Take this and go home.' The ceremony
is supposed to lay the dead man's spirit and at the same
time to prevent the tiger from doing any further damage.
The Baigas believe that the ghost of the victim, if not
charmed to rest, resides on the head of the tiger and incites
him to further deeds of blood, rendering him also secure from
harm by his preternatural watchfulness.^

They also think that they can shut up the tiger's ddr or
jaws, so that he cannot bite them, by driving a nail into a
tree. The forest track from Kanha to Kisli in the Banjar
forest reserve of Mandla was formerly a haunt of man-
eating tigers, to whom a number of the wood-cutters and
Baiga coolies, clearing the jungle paths, fell victims every
year. In a large tree, at a dangerous point in the track,
there could recently be seen a nail, driven into the trunk by
a Baiga priest, at some height from the ground. It was
said that this nail shut the mouth of a famous man-eating
tiger of the locality and prevented him from killing any

' VorayiWs Hig/iiands of Central India, p. 377.

II REI.ir.JON 85

more victims. As evidence of the truth (;f the story there
were shown on the trunk the marks of the timer's chiws,
where he had been jumpinfT up the tree in the effort to pull
the nail out of the trunk and get his man-eating powers
restored.

Although the IMnjhwar subcaste now profess Hinduism, 6. Rcii^'ion
the religion of the Baigas is purely animistic. Their prin-
cipal deity is Bura Deo/ who is supposed to reside in a sdj
tree {Teriiiinalia touientosci) ; he is worshipped in the month
of Jeth (May), when goats, fowls, cocoanuts, and the liquor
of the new mahua crop are offered to him. Thakur Deo
is the god of the village land and boundaries, and is propi-
tiated with a white goat. The Baigas who plough the fields
have a ceremony called Bidri, which is performed before the
breaking of the rains. A handful of each kind of grain sown
is given by each cultivator to the priest, who mixes the
grains together and sows a little beneath the tree where
Thakur Deo lives. After this he returns a little to each
cultivator, and he sows it in the centre of the land on which
crops are to be grown, while the priest keeps the remainder.
This ceremony is believed to secure the success of the har-
vest. Dulha Deo is the god who averts disease and accident,
and the offering made to him should consist of a fowl or goat
of reddish colour. Bhimsen is the deity of rainfall, and
Dharti Mata or Mother Earth is considered to be the wife
of Thakur Deo, and must also be propitiated for the success
of the crops. The grain itself is worshipped at the thresh-
ing floor by sprinkling water and liquor on to it. Certain
Hindu deities are also worshipped by the Baigas, but not in
orthodox fashion. Thus it would be sacrilege on the part
of a Hindu to offer animal sacrifices to Narayan Deo, the
sun-god, but the Baigas devote to him a special oblation of
the most unclean animal, the pig. The animal to be sacri-
ficed is allowed to wander loose for two or three years, and
is then killed in a most cruel manner. It is laid across the
threshold of a doorway on its back, and across its stomach
is placed a stout plank of sdj-wooA. Half a dozen men sit
or stand on the ends of this, and the fore and hind feet of
the pig are pulled backwards and forwards alternately over

' The Great God. The Gonds also worship Bura Deo, resident in a sdj tree.'

86 BAIGA PART

the plank until it is crushed to death, while all the men sing
or shout a sacrificial hymn. The head and feet are cut
off and offered to the deity, and the body is eaten. The
forests are believed to be haunted by spirits, and in certain
localities pats or shrines are erected in their honour, and
occasional offerings are made to them. The spirits of married
persons are supposed to live in streams, while trees afford a
shelter to the souls of the unmarried, who become bJiuts or
malignant spirits after death. Nag Deo or the cobra is
supposed to live in an ant-hill, and offerings are made to him
there. Demoniacal possession is an article of faith, and a
popular remedy is to burn human hair mixed with chillies
and pig's dung near the person possessed, as the horrible
smell thus produced will drive away the spirit. Many and
weird, Mr. Low writes, are the simples which the Baiga's
travelling scrip contains. Among these a dried bat has the
chief place ; this the Baiga says he uses to charm his nets
with, that the prey may catch in them as the bat's claws
catch in w^hatever it touches. As an instance of the Baiga's
pantheism it may be mentioned that on one occasion when a
train of the new Satpura railway ^ had pulled up at a way-
side forest station, a Baiga was found offering a sacrifice
to the engine. Like other superstitious people they are
great believers in omens. A single crow bathing in a stream
is a sign of death. A cock which crows in the night should
be instantly killed and thrown into the darkness, a custom
which some would be glad to see introduced into much more
civilised centres. The woodpecker and owl are birds of bad
omen. The Baigas do not appear to have anj- idea of a fresh
birth, and one of their marriage songs says, " O girl, take
your pleasure in going round the marriage-post once and for
all, for there is no second birth." The Baigas are generally
the priests of the Gonds, probably because being earlier resi-
dents of the country they are considered to have a more
intimate acquaintance with the local deities. They have
a wide knowledge of the medicinal properties of jungle
roots and herbs, and are often successful in effecting cures
when the regular native doctors have failed. Their village
priests have consequently a considerable reputation as skilled

' Opened in 1905.

II APPEARANCE AND MODE Oh' I.Il'E 87

sorcerers and persons conversant with the unseen world. A
case is known of a Brahman transferred to a jungle station,
who immediately after his arrival called in a Baiga priest
and asked what forest gods he should worship, and what
other steps he should take to keep well and escape calamity.
Colonel Ward states that in his time Baigas were commonly
called in to give aid when a town or village was attacked by
cholera, and further that he had seen the greatest benefit to
result from their visit. For the people had so much con-
fidence in their powers and ceremonies that they lost half
their fright at once, and were consequently not so much pre-
disposed to an attack of the disease. On such an occasion
the Baiga priest goes round the village and pulls out a little
straw from each house-roof, afterwards burning the whole
before the shrine of Khermata, the goddess of the village, to
whom he also offers a chicken for each homestead. If this
remedy fails goats are substituted for chickens, and lastly, as
a forlorn hope, pigs are tried, and, as a rule, do not fail,
because by this time the disease may be expected to have
worked itself out. It is suggested that the chicken represents
a human victim from each house, while the straw stands for
the house itself, and the offering has the common idea of a
substituted victim.

In stature the Baigas are a little taller than most other 7. Appear-
tribes, and though they have a tendency to the flat nose of ^^^^^^^^
the Gonds, their foreheads and the general shape of their life.
heads are of a better mould. Colonel Ward states that the
members of the tribe inhabiting the Maikal range in Mandla
are a much finer race than those living nearer the open
country.^ Their figures are very nearly perfect, says Colonel
Bloomfield,^ and their wiry limbs, unburdened by superfluous
flesh, will carry them over very great distances and over
places inaccessible to most human beings, while their com-
pact bodies need no other nutriment than the scanty fare
afforded by their native forests. They are born hunters,
hardy and active in the chase, and exceedingly bold and
courageous. In character they are naturally simple, honest
and truthful, and when their fear of a stranger has been

1 Mandla Settlement Jieport {l?>6S-6()), Y>- 153-
2 Notes on the Baigas, p. 4.

88 BAIGA PART

dissipated are most companionable folk. A small hut, 6 or
7 feet high at the ridge, made of split bamboos and mud,
with a neat veranda in front thatched with leaves and grass,
forms the Baiga's residence, and if it is burnt down, or
abandoned on a visitation of epidemic disease, he can build
another in the space of a day, A rough earthen vessel to
hold water, leaves for plates, gourds for drinking-vessels, a
piece of matting to sleep on, and a small axe, a sickle and a
spear, exhaust the inventory of the Baiga's furniture, and the
money value of the whole would not exceed a rupee.^ The
Baigas never live in a village with other castes, but have
their huts some distance away from the village in the jungle.
Unlike the other tribes also, the Baiga prefers his house to
stand alone and at some little distance from those of his
fellow-tribesmen. While nominally belonging to the village
near which they dwell, so separate and distinct are they
from the rest of people that in the famine of 1897 cases
were found of starving Baiga hamlets only a few hundred
yards away from the village proper in which ample relief
was being given. On being questioned as to why they had
not caused the Baigas to be helped, the other villagers said,
' We did not remember them ' ; and when the Baigas were
asked why they did not apply for relief, they said, ' We did
not think it was meant for Baigas.'

Their dress is of the most simple description, a small
strip of rag between the legs and another wisp for a head-
covering sufficing for the men, though the women are decently
covered from their shoulders to half-way between the thighs
and knees. A Baiga may be known by his scanty clothing
and tangled hair, and his wife by the way in which her single
garment is arranged so as to provide a safe sitting- place in
it for her child. Baiga women have been seen at work in
the field transplanting rice with babies comfortably seated in
their cloth, one sometimes supported on either hip with their
arms and legs out, while the mother was stooping low, hour
after hour, handling the rice plants. A girl is tattooed on
the forehead at the age of five, and over her whole body
before she is married, both for the sake of ornament and
because the practice is considered beneficial to the health.

1 Mr. T.ampard's monograph.

11 /)h'j':ss AND i-oon 89

The Baif]^as arc usually without blankets ox warm clothint^,
and in the cold season they sleep round a wood fire kept
burning or smouldering all night, stray sparks from which
may alight on their tough skins without being felt. Mr.
Lampard relates that on one occasion a number of Baiga
men were supplied by the Mission under his charge with large
new cloths to cover their bodies with and make them pre-
sentable on appearance in church. On the second Sunday,
however, they came with their cloths burnt full of small
holes ; and they explained that the damage had been done
at night while they were sleeping round the fire.

A Baiga, Mr. Lampard continues, is speedily discerned
in a forest village bazar, and is the most interesting object in
it. His almost nude figure, wild, tangled hair innocent of
such inventions as brush or comb, lithe wiry limbs and jungly
and uncivilised appearance, mark him out at once. He
generally brings a few mats or baskets which he has made,
or fruits, roots, honey, horns of animals, or other jungle
products which he has collected, for sale, and with the sum
obtained (a few pice or annas at the most) he proceeds to
make his weekly purchases, changing his pice into cowrie
shells, of which he receives eighty for each one. He buys
tobacco, salt, chillies and other sundries, besides as much of
kodon, kutki, or perhaps rice, as he can afford, always leaving
a trifle to be expended at the liquor shop before departing for
home. The various purchases are tied up in the corners of
the bit of rag twisted round his head. Unlike pieces of cloth
known to civilisation, which usually have four corners, the
l^aiga's headgear appears to be nothing but corners, and when
the shopping is done the strip of rag may have a dozen
minute bundles tied up in it.

In Baihar of Balaghat buying and selling are conducted
on perhaps the most minute scale known, and if a Baiga has
one or two pice ^ to lay out he will spend no inconsiderable
time over it. Grain is sold in small measures holding about
four ounces called baraiyas, but each of these has a layer of
mud at the bottom of varying degrees of thickness, so as to
reduce its capacity. Before a purchase can be made it must
be settled by whose baraiya the grain is to be measured, and

^ Farthings.

90 BAIGA PART

the seller and purchaser each refuse the other's as being
unfair to himself, until at length after discussion some neutral
person's baraiya is selected as a compromise. Their food
consists largely of forest fruits and roots with a scanty
allowance of rice or the light millets, and they can go
without nourishment for periods which appear extraordinary
to civilised man. They eat the flesh of almost all animals,
though the more civilised abjure beef and monkeys. They
will take food from a Gond but not from a Brahman. The
Baiga dearly loves the common country liquor made from
the mahua flower, and this is consumed as largely as funds
will permit of at weddings, funerals and other social gatherings,
and also if obtainable at other times. They have a tribal
panchayat or committee which imposes penalties for social
offences, one punishment being the abstention from meat for
a fixed period. A girl going wrong with a man of the caste
is punished by a fine, but cases of unchastity among unmarried
Baiga girls are rare. xA.mong their pastimes dancing is one
of the chief, and in their favourite dance, known as karma.,
the men and women form long lines opposite to each other
with the musicians between them. One of the instruments,
a drum called nidndar, gives out a deep bass note which can
be heard for miles. The two lines advance and retire, every-
body singing at the same time, and when the dancers get
fully into the time and swing, the pace increases, the drums
beat furiously, the voices of the singers rise higher and higher,
and by the light of the bonfires which are kept burning the
whole scene is wild in the extreme.

The Baigas formerly practised only shifting cultivation,
burning down patches of jungle and sowing seed on the
ground fertilised by the ashes after the breaking of the rains.
Now that this method has been prohibited in Government
forest, attempts have been made to train them to regular
cultivation, but with indifferent success in Balaghat. An
idea of the difficulties to be encountered may be obtained
from the fact that in some villages the Baiga cultivators, if
left unwatched, would dig up the grain which they had
themselves sown as seed in their fields and eat it ; while
the plough -cattle which were given to them invariably
developed diseases in spite of all precautions, as a result of

n OCCUPATION 91

which they fcniiul their way sooner or later to the l')ai^a'.s
cookinL;-pot. lUit they arc f;rachially ucloptiiiL; settled habits,
arul in MancHa, where a considerable block of forest was
allotted to them in which they might continnc their destruc-
tive practice of shifting sowings, it is reported that the
majority have now become regular cultivators. One explana-
tion of their refusal to till the ground is that they consider
it a sin to lacerate the breast of their mother earth with a
ploughshare. They also say that God made the jungle to
produce everything necessary for the sustenance of men and
made the Raigas kings of the forest, giving them wisdom to
discover the things provided for them. To Gonds and others
who had not this knowledge, the inferior occupation of tilling
the land was left. The men never become farmservants, but
during the cultivating season they work for hire at uprooting
the rice seedlings for transplantation ; they do no other
agricultural labour for others. Women do the actual trans-
plantation of rice and work as harvesters. The men make
bamboo mats and baskets, which they sell in the village
weekly markets. They also collect and sell honey and other
forest products, and are most expert at all work that can be
done with an axe, making excellent woodcutters. But they
show no aptitude in acquiring the use of any other implement,
and dislike steady continuous labour, preferring to do a few
days' work and then rest in their homes for a like period
before beginning again. Their skill and dexterity in the use
of the axe in hunting is extraordinary. Small deer, hares
and peacocks are often knocked over by throwing it at them,
and panthers and other large animals are occasionally killed
with a single blow. If one of two Baigas is carried off by a
tiger, the survivor will almost always make a determined and
often successful attempt to rescue him with nothing more
formidable than an axe or a stick. They are expert trackers,
and are also clever at setting traps and snares, while, like
Korkus, they catch fish by damming streams in the hot
weather and throwing into the pool thus formed some leaf
or root which stupefies them. Even in a famine year, Mr.
Low says, a Baiga can collect a large basketful of roots in a
single day ; and if the bamboo seeds he is amply provided
for. Nowadays Baiga cultivators may occasionally be met

92 BAIGA PART II

with who have taken to regular cultivation and become quite

prosperous, owning a number of cattle.
10. Lan- As already stated, the Baigas have completely fongotten

guage. their own language, and in the Satpura hills they speak a

broken form of Hindi, though they have a certain number

of words and expressions peculiar to the caste.

BAIRAGI

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. Defitiition of name and sta-

tistics.

2 . The four SanipradCiyas or main

orders.

3. The Rdmdnujis.

4. The RdmCinandis.

5. The Ninumandis.

6. The MddJiavachdryas.

7. The Vallabhachdryas.

9-
10.
1 1.

'3-

14.

Minor sects.

The seven A k haras.

The Dwdras.

Initiation, appearance and

customs.
Recruitment of the order and

its character.
Social position and customs.
Bairdgi motuistcries.

I 5. Married Bairagis.

Bairagfi,^ Sadhu. — The general term for members of i- Defini-
the Vishnuite religious orders, who formerly as a rule lived „ai'nrand
by mendicancy. The Bairagis have now, however, become statistics.
a caste. In 191 1 they numbered 38,000 persons in the
Provinces, being distributed over all Districts and States.
The name Bairagi is supposed to come from the Sanskrit
Vairagya and to signify one who is free from human passions.
Bairaga is also the term for the crutched stick which such
mendicants frequently carry about with them and lean upon,
either sitting or standing, and which in case of need would
serve them as a weapon. Platts considers '' that the name
of the order comes from the Sanskrit abstract term, and the
crutch therefore apparently obtained its name from being
used by members of the order. Properly, a religious mendi-
cant of any Vishnuite sect should be called a Bairagi. But
the term is not generally applied to the more distinctive
sects as the Kablrpanthi, Swami-Narayan, Satnami and
others, some of whfch are almost separated from Hinduism,

' This article contains material from chSrya's Hindu Castes and Sects
Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Re- (Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta).
port (1891), and Dr. J. N. Bhatta- - Dictionary, s.v.

BAIRAGI

nor to the Sikh religious orders, nor the Chaitanya sect of
Bengal. A proper Bairagi is one whose principal deity is
either Vishnu or either of his great incarnations, Rama and
Krishna.

It is generally held that there are four Sampradayas or
main sects of Bairagis. These are —

{a) The Ramanujis, the followers of the first prominent
Vishnuite reformer Ramanuj in southern India, with whom
are classed the Ramanandis or adherents of his great disciple
Ramanand in northern India. Both these are also called
Sri Vaishnava, that is, the principal or original Vaishnava
sect.

(Jj) The Nimanandi, Nimat or Nimbaditya sect, followers
of a saint called Nimanand.

{c) The Vishnu- Swami or Vallabhacharya sect, wor-
shippers of Krishna and Radha.

[d) The Madhavacharya sect of southern India.

It will be desirable to give a few particulars of each
of these, mainly taken from Wilson's Hindu Sects and Dr.
Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes and Sects.

Ramanuj was the first great Vishnuite prophet, and lived
in southern India in the eleventh or twelfth century on an
island in the Kaveri river near Trichinopoly. He preached
the worship of a supreme spirit, Vishnu and his consort
Lakshmi, and taught that men also had souls or spirits,
and that matter was lifeless. He was a strong opponent
of the cult of Siva, then predominant in southern India, and
of phallic worship. He, however, admitted only the higher
castes into his order, and cannot therefore be considered as
the founder of the liberalising principle of Vishnuism. The
superiors of the Ramanuja sect are called Acharya, and rank
highest among the priests of the Vishnuite orders. The
most striking feature in the practice of the Ramanujis is the
separate preparation and scrupulous privacy of their meals.
They must not eat in cotton garments, but must bathe, and
then put on wool or silk. The teachers allow their select
pupils to assist them, but in general all the Ramanujis cook
for themselves, and should the meal during this process, or
while they are eating, attract even the look of a stranger, the
operation is instantly stopped and the viands buried in the

11 rilJ': RAMANUJIS -Tni'. RAMANANPIS 95

ground. The Rumruuijis address each other with the sakita-
tion Dasoham, or ' I am your slave/ accompanied with the
I'ranam or slight inclination of the head and the applica-
tion of joined hands to the forehead. To the Acharyas or
superiors the other members of the sect perform the Ashtanga
or prostration of the body with eight parts touching the
ground. The tilak or sect-mark of the Ramanujis consists
of two perpendicular white lines from the roots of the hair
to the top of the eyebrows, with a connecting white line at
the base, and a third central line either of red or yellow.
The Ramanujis do not recognise the worship of Radha,
the consort of Krishna. The mendicant orders of the
Satanis and Dasaris of southern India are branches of this
sect.

Ramanand, the great prophet of Vishnuism in northern 4. The
India, and the real founder of the liberal doctrines of the ^^^'"!''

nandis.

cult, lived at Benares at the end of the fourteenth century,
and is supposed to have been a follower of Ramanuj. He
introduced, however, a great extension of his predecessor's
gospel in making his sect, nominally at least, open to all
castes. He thus initiated the struggle against the social
tyranny and exclusiveness of the caste system, which was
carried to greater lengths by his disciples and successors,
Kablr, Nanak, Dadu, Rai Das and others. These afterwards
proclaimed the worship of one unseen god who could not be
represented by idols, and the religious equality of all men,
their tenets no doubt being considerably influenced by their
observance of Islam, which had now become a principal
religion of India. Ramanand himself did not go so far, and
remained a good Hindu, inculcating the special worship of
Rama and his consort Sita. The Ramanandis consider the
Ramayana as their most sacred book, and make pilgrimages
to Ajodhia and Ramnath.^ Their sect-mark consists of two
white lines down the forehead with a red one between, but
they are continued on to the nose, ending in a loop, instead
of terminating at the line of the eyebrows, like that of the
Ramanujis. The Ramanandis say that the mark on the
nose represents the Singasun or lion's throne, while the two
white lines up the forehead are Rama and Lakhshman, and

* Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Cciistts Report (1S91), p. 122.

DAIRAGI

5- The
Nlma-
nandis.

6. The

Madhava-
charyas.

the centre red one is Sita. Some of their devotees wear
ochre-coloured clothes like the Sivite mendicants.

The second of the four orders is that of the Nimanandis,
called after a saint Nimanand. He lived near Mathura
Brindaban, and on one occasion was engaged in religious
controversy with a Jain ascetic till sunset. He then offered
his visitor some refreshment, but the Jain could not eat
anything after sunset, so Nimanand stopped the sun from
setting, and ordered him to wait above a nlm tree till the
meal was cooked and eaten under the tree, and this
direction the sun duly obeyed. Hence Nimanand, whose
original name was Bhaskaracharya, was called by his new
name after the tree, and was afterwards held to have been
an incarnation of Vishnu or the Sun.

The doctrines of the sect, Mr. Growse states,-^ are of
a very enlightened character. Thus their tenet of salvation
by faith is thought by many scholars to have been directly
derived from the Gospels ; while another article in their
creed is the continuance of conscious individual existence
in a future world, when the highest reward of the good
will not be extinction, but the enjoyment of the visible
presence of the divinity whom they have served while on
earth. The Nimanandis worship Krishna, and were the
first sect, Dr. Bhattacharya states," to associate with him
as a divine consort Radha, the chief partner of his
illicit loves.

Their headquarters arc at Muttra, and their chief festival
is the Janam-Ashtami^ or Krishna's birthday. Their sect-
mark consists of two white lines down the forehead with
a bl,ack patch in the centre, which is called Shiambindini.
Shiam means black, and is a name of Krishna. They also
sometimes have a circular line across the nose, which
represents the moon.

The third great order is that of the Madhavas, named
after a saint called Madhavachfirya in southern India. He
attempted to reconcile the warring Sivites and Vishnuites
by combining the worship of Krisiina with that of Siva

' Memoir of Matlinra.

^ Hi)idn Ca<:les and Sects, p. 449.

^ I>it. the birth on the eitjhth day,
as Krishna was born on the 8th of
(iaik r.iiadon.

II TIJE VALJ.AnHACl/ARVAS 97

and Pfirvati. The doctrine of the sect is that the human
soul is different from the divine soul, and its members arc
therefore called dualists. They admit a distinction between
the divine soul and the universe, and between the human
soul and the material world. They deny also the possibility
of Nirvana or the absorption and extinction of the human
soul in the divine essence. They destroy their thread at
initiation, and also wear red clothes like the Sivite devotees,
and like them also they carry a staff and water-pot. The
tilak of the Madhavacharyas is said to consist of two white
lines down the forehead and continued on to the nose
where they meet, with a black vertical line between them.

The fourth main order is the Vishnu-Swami, which is 7- The
much better known as the Vallabhacharya sect, called after chlrvas'^
its founder Vallabha, who was born in A.D. 1479. The
god Krishna appeared to him and ordered him to marry
and set up a shrine to the god at Gokul near Mathura
(Muttra). The sect worship Krishna in his character of
Bala Gopala or the cowherd boy. Their temples are
numerous all over India, and especially at Mathura and
Brindaban, where Krishna was brought up as a cowherd.
The temples at Benares, Jagannath and Dwarka are rich
and important, but the most celebrated shrine is at Sri
Nathadwara in Mewar. The image is said to have trans-
ported itself thither from Mathura, when Aurangzeb ordered
its temple at Mathura to be destroyed. Krishna is here
represented as a little boy in the act of supporting the
mountain Govardhan on his finger to shelter the people
from the storms of rain sent by Indra. The image is
splendidly dressed and richly decorated with ornaments to
the value of several thousand pounds. The images of
Krishna in the temples are commonly known as Thakurji,
and are either of stone or brass. At all Vallabhacharya
temples there are eight daily services : the Mangala or
morning levee, a little after sunrise, when the god is taken
from his couch and bathed ; the Sringara, when he is
attired in his jewels and seated on his throne ; the Gwala,
when he is supposed to be starting to graze his cattle in
the woods of Braj ; the Raj Bhog or midday meal, which,
after presentation, is consumed by the priests and votaries

VOL. II H

98 BAIRAGI part

who have assisted at the ceremonies ; the Uttapan, about
three o'clock, when the god awakes from his siesta ; the
Bhog or evening collation ; the Sandhiya or disrobing at
sunset ; and the Sayan or retiring to rest. The ritual is
performed by the priests and the lay worshipper is only
a spectator, who shows his reverence by the same forms
as he would to a human superior/

The priests of the sect are called Gokalastha Gosain or
Maharaja. They are considered to be incarnations of the
god, and divine honours are paid to them. They always
marry, and avow that union with the god is best obtained
by indulgence in all bodily enjoyments. This doctrine
has led to great licentiousness in some groups of the sect,
especially on the part of the priests or Maharajas. Women
were taught to believe that the service of and contact with
the priest were the most real form of worshipping the god,
and that intercourse with him was equivalent to being
united with the god. Dr. Bhattacharya quotes ^ the follow-
ing tariff for the privilege of obtaining different degrees
of contact with the body of the Maharaja or priest :

For homage by sight . . . Rs. 5.

For homage by touch . . . Rs. 20.

For the honour of washing the Maha-
raja's foot .... Rs. 35.

For swinging him .... Rs. 40.

For rubbing sweet unguents on his

body ..... Rs. 42.

For being allowed to sit with him

on the same couch . . . Rs. 60.

For the privilege of dancing with

him ..... Rs. 100 to 200.

For drinking the water in which he

has bathed .... Rs. 17.

For being closeted with him in the

same room .... Rs, 50 to 500.

The public disapprobation caused by these practices

^ Mr. Crookc's 7'rihes and Castes, art. Vallabhacharya.
'■^ Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 457.

Beijtrcse. t\..>., Verb\

ANCHORITE SITTING ON IRON NAILS.

u MINOR SECTS 99

and their bad effect on the morality of women culminated
in the great Maharfij libel suit in the l^ombay High Court
in 1862. Since then the objectionable features of the cult
have to a large extent disappeared, while it has produced
some priests of exceptional liberality and enlightenment.
The tilak of the Vallabhacharyas is said to consist of two
white lines down the forehead, forming a half-circle at its
base and a white dot between them. They will not admit
the lower castes into the order, but only those from whom
a Brahman can take water.

Besides the main sects as described above, Vaishnavism 8. Minor
has produced many minor sects, consisting of the followers ^*^'^'^"
of some saint of special fame, and mendicants belonging
to these are included in the body of Bairagis. One or two
legends concerning such saints may be given. A common
order is that of the Bendiwale, or those who wear a dot.
Their founder began putting a red dot on his forehead
between the two white lines in place of the long red line
of the Ramanandis. His associates asked him why he had
dared to alter his tilak or sect-mark. He said that the
goddess Janki had given him the dot, and as a test he went
and bathed in the Sarju river, and rubbed his forehead with
water, and all the sect-mark was rubbed out except the dot.
So the others recognised the special intervention of the
goddess, and he founded a sect. Another sect is called
the Chaturbhuji or four-armed, Chaturbhuj being an epithet
of Vishnu. He was taking part in a feast when his loin-
cloth came undone behind, and the others said to him that
as this had happened, he had become impure at the feast.
He replied, ' Let him to whom the dhoti belongs tie it up,'
and immediately four arms sprang from his body, and while
two continued to take food, the other two tied up his loin-
cloth behind. Thus it was recognised that the Chaturbhuji
Vishnu had appeared in him, and he was venerated.

Among the Bairagis, besides the four Sampradayas or 9. The
main orders, there are seven Akharas. These are military ^^^"^^^g
divisions or schools for training, and were instituted when
the Bairagis had to fight with the Gosains, Any member
of one of the four Sampradayas can belong to any one of
the seven Akharas, and a man can change his Akhara as

lOo B A TRAGI part

often as he likes, but not his Sampradaya. The Akharas,
with the exception of the Lasgaris, who change the red
centre line of the Ramanandis into a white line, have no
special sect-marks. They are distinguished by their flags
or standards, which are elaborately decorated with gold
thread embroidered on silk or sometimes with jewels, and
cost two or three hundred rupees to prepare. These
standards were carried by the Naga or naked members of
the Akhara, who went in front and fought. Once in twelve
years a great meeting of all the seven Akharas is held at
Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain or Hardwar, where they bathe
and wash the image of the god in the water of the holy
rivers. The quarrels between the Bairagis and Gosains
usually occurred at the sacred rivers, and the point of con-
tention was which sect should bathe first. The following
is a list of the seven Akharas : Digambari, Khaki, Munjia,
Kathia, Nirmohi, Nirbani or Niranjani and Lasgari.

The name of the Digamber or Meghdamber signifies
sky-clad or cloud-clad, that is naked. They do penance
in the rainy season by sitting naked in the rain for two or
three hours a day with an earthen pot on the head and the
hands inserted in two others so that they cannot rub the
skin. In the dry season they wear only a little cloth
round the waist and ashes over the rest of the body. The
ashes are produced from burnt cowdung picked up off
the ground, and not mixed with straw like that which is
prepared for fuel.

The Khaki Bairagis also rub ashes on the body. During
the four hot months they make five fires in a circle, and
kneel between them with the head and legs and arms
stretched towards the fires. The fires are kindled at noon
with little heaps of cowdung cakes, and the penitent stays
between them till they go out. They also have a block of
wood with a hole through it, into which they insert the
organ of generation and suspend it by chains in front and
behind. They rub ashes on the body, from which they
probably get their name of Khaki or dust-colour.

The Munjia Akhara have a belt made of inunj grass
round the \vaist, and a little apron also of grass, which is
hsung from -it, and passed through the legs. Formerly they

:i:i 'b 1

II THE DWARAS loi

wore no other clothes, but now they have a cloth. They
also do penance between the fires.

The Kathias have a waist-belt of bamboo fibre, to which
is suspended the wooden block for the purpose already
described. Their name signifies wooden, and is probably
given to them on account of this custom.

The Nirmohi carry a lota or brass vessel and a little
cup, in which they receive alms.

The Nirbani wear only a piece of string or rope round
the waist, to which is attached a small strip o'^ o^h passing
through the legs. When begging, they carry a kawar or
banghy, holding two baskets covered with cloth, and into
this they put all their alms. They never remove the cloth,
but plunge their hands into the basket at random when they
want something to eat. They call the basket Kamdhenu,
the name of the cow which gave inexhaustible wealth.
These Bairagis commonly marry and accumulate property.

The Lasgari are soldiers, as the name denotes.^ They
wear three straight lines of sandalwood up the forehead.
It is said that on one occasion the Bairagis were suddenly
attacked by the Gosains when they had only made the
white lines of the sect-mark, and they fought as they were.
In consequence of this, they have ever since worn three
white lines and no red one.

Others say that the Lasgari are a branch of the Digambari
Akhara, and that the Munjia and Kathia are branches of the
Khaki Akhara. They give three other Akharas — Niralankhi,
Mahanirbani and Santokhi — about which nothing is known.

Besides the Akharas, the Bairagis are said to have fifty- ^o. The
two Dwaras or doors, and every man must be a member i^w^ras.
of a Dwara as well as of a Sampradaya and Akhara. The
Dwaras seem to have no special purpose, but in the case
of Bairagis who marry, they now serve as exogamous
sections, so that members of the same Dwara do not inter-
marry.

A candidate for initiation has his head shaved, is invested n. initia-
with a necklace of beads of the tulsi or basil, and is taught a ''°"'

' ^ appearance

mantra or text relating to Vishnu by his preceptor. The and
initiation text of the Ramanandis is said to be Ovi Rdniaya '="^^°"^^-

1 From laskkar, an army.

I02

BAIRAGI

Namali, or 0)n, Salutation to Rama. Om is a very sacred
syllable, having much magical power. Thereafter the novice
must journey to Dwarka in Gujarat and have his body
branded with hot iron or copper in the shape of Vishnu's
four implements : the cJiakra or discus, the guda or club, the
shank or conch-shell and the padina or lotus. Sometimes
these are not branded but are made daily on the arms with
clay. The sect-mark should be made with Gopichandan or
the milkmaid's sandalwood. This is supposed to be clay
taken from a tank at Dwarka, in which the Gopis or milk-
maids who had been Krishna's companions drowned them-
selves when they heard of his death. But as this can seldom
be obtained any suitable whitish clay is used instead. The
Bairagis commonly let their hair grow long, after being
shaved at initiation, to imitate the old forest ascetics. If a
man makes a pilgrimage on foot to some famous shrine he
may have his head shaved there and make an offering of his
hair. Others keep their hair long and shave it only at the
death of their guru or preceptor. They usually wear white
clothes, and if a man has a cloth on the upper part of the
body it should be folded over the shoulders and knotted at
the neck. He also has a cliimta or small pair of tongs, and,
if he can obtain it, the skin of an Indian antelope, on which
he will sit while taking his food. The skin of this animal is
held to be sacred. Every Bairagi before he takes his food
should dip a sprig of tulsi or basil into it to sanctify it, and
if he cannot get this he uses his necklace of i'///jz'-beads for
the purpose instead. The caste abstain from flesh and
liquor, but are addicted to the intoxicating drugs, gdnja and
bhang or preparations of Indian hemp. A Hindu on meeting
a Bairagi will greet him with the phrase ' Jai Sitaram,' and the
Bairagi will answer, ' Sitaram.' This word is a conjunction of
the names of Rama and his consort Sita. When a Bairagi
receives alms he will present to the giver a flower and a
sprig of tidsi.

A man belonging to any caste except the impure ones
can be initiated as a Bairagi, and the order is to a
large extent recruited from the lower castes. Theoretic-
ally all members of the order should eat together ; but the
Brahmans and other high castes belonging to it now eat only

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II SOCIAL rosrriON and customs 103

among themselves, except on the occasion of a Ghosti or
special religious assembly, when all eat in common. As a
matter of fact the order is a very mixed assortment of
people. Many persons who lost their caste in the famine
of 1 897 from eating in Government poor-houses, joined
the order and obtained a respectable position. Debtors who
have become hopelessly involved sometimes find in it a
means of escape from their creditors. Women of bad
character, who have been expelled from their caste, are also
frequently enrolled as female members, and in monasteries
live openly with the men. The caste is also responsible for
a good deal of crime. Not only is the disguise a very con-
venient one for thieves and robbers to assume on their
travels, but many regular members of the order are
criminally disposed. Nevertheless large numbers of Bairagis
are men who have given up their caste and families from
a genuine impulse of self-sacrifice, and the desire to lead a
religious life.

On account of their sanctity the Bairagis have a fairly 13. Social
good social position, and respectable Hindu castes will and"°"
accept cooked food from them. Brahmans usually, but not customs,
always, take water. They act as gurus or spiritual guides
to the laymen of all castes who can become Bairagis. They
give the Ram and Gopal Mantras, or the texts of Rama and
Krishna, to their disciples of the three twice-born castes, and
the Sheo Mantra or Siva's text to other castes. The last is
considered to be of smaller religious efficacy than the others,
and is given to the lower castes and members of the higher
ones who do not lead a particularly virtuous life. They invest
boys with the sacred thread, and make the sect-mark on
their foreheads. When they go and visit their disciples they
receive presents, but do not ask them to confess their sins
nor impose penalties.

If a mendicant Bairagi keeps a woman it is stated that
he is expelled from the community, but this rule does not
seem to be enforced in practice. If he is detected in a
casual act of sexual intercourse a fine should be imposed,
such as feeding two or three hundred Bairagis. The
property of an unmarried Bairagi descends to a selected
chela or disciple. The bodies of the dead are usually burnt,

I04

BAIRAGI

but those of saints specially famous for their austerities or
piety are buried, and salt is put round the body to preserve
it. Such men are known as Bhakta.

The Bairagis ^ have numerous maths or monasteries,
scattered over the country and usually attached to temples.
The Math comprises a set of huts or chambers for the
Mahant or superior and his permanent pupils ; a temple
and often the Samadhi or tomb of the founder, or of some
eminent Mahant ; and a Dharmsala or charitable hostel for
the accommodation of wandering members of the order, and
of other travellers who are constantly visiting the temple.
Ingress and egress are free to all, and, indeed, a restraint on
personal liberty seems never to have entered into the con-
ception of any Hindu religious legislator. There are, as a
rule, a small number of resident cJielas or disciples who are
scholars and attendants on the superiors, and also out-
members who travel over the country and return to the
monastery as a headquarters. The monastery has commonly
some small endowment in land, and the resident cJielas go
out and beg for alms for their common support. If the
Mahant is married the headship may descend in his family ;
but when he is unmarried his successor is one of his disciples,
who is commonly chosen by election at a meeting of the
Mahants of neighbouring monasteries. Formerly the Hindu
governor of the district would preside at such an election,
but it is now, of course, left entirely to the Bairagis them-
selves.

Large numbers of Bairagis now marry and have children,
and have formed an ordinary caste. The married Bairagis
are held to be inferior to the celibate mendicants, and
will take food from them, but the mendicants will not
permit the married Bairagis to eat with them in the cJiauka
or place purified for the taking of food. The customs of
the married Bairagis resemble those of ordinary Hindu
castes such as the Kurmis. They permit divorce and the
remarriage of widows, and burn the dead. Those who have
taken to cultivation do not, as a rule, plough with their own
hands. Many Bairagis have acquired property and become

^ This paragraph is taken from Professor Wilson's Account of Hindu Sects in
the Asiatic Researches.

notice.

II BALAHI 105

landholders, and others have extensive moneylendin^ trans-
actions. Two such men who had acquired possession of
extensive tracts of zamlndari land in Chhattlsgarh, in satis-
faction of loans made to the Gond zamlndfirs, and had been
given the zamlndari status by the Marathas, were subse-
quently made Feudatory Chiefs of the Nandgaon and
Chhuikhadan States. These chiefs now marry and the
States descend in their families by primogeniture in the
ordinary manner. As a rule, the Bairagi landowners and
moneylenders are not found to be particularly good specimens
of their class.

Balahi.^ — A low functional caste of weavers and village i. General
watchmen found in the Nimar and Hoshangabad Districts
and in Central India. They numbered 52,000 persons in
the Central Provinces in 191 1, being practically confined to
the two Districts already mentioned. The name is a cor-
ruption of the Hindi bnldhi, one who calls, or a messenger.
The Balahis seem to be an occupational group, probably an
offshoot of the large Kori caste of weavers, one of whose
subdivisions is shown as Balahi in the United Provinces.
In the Central Provinces they have received accretions from
the spinner caste of Katias, themselves probably a branch of
the Koris, and from the Mahars, the great menial caste of
Bombay. In Hoshangabad they are known alternatively as
Mahar, while in Burhanpur they are called Bunkar or
weaver by outsiders. The following story which they tell
about themselves also indicates their mixed origin. They
say that their ancestors came to Nimar as part of the army
of Raja Man of Jodhpur, who invaded the country when it
was under Muhammadan rule. He was defeated, and his
soldiers were captured and ordered to be killed." One of
the Balahis among them won the favour of the Muham-
madan general and asked for his own freedom and that of
the other Balahis from among the prisoners. The Musalman

^ This article is based on papers by reminiscence of the historical fact that

Mr. Habib Ullah, Pleader, Burhanpur, a Malvva army was misled by a Gond

Mr. W. Bagley, Subdivisional Officer, guide in the Nimar forests and cut up

and Munsh Kanhya Lai, of the Gazet- by the local Muhammadan ruler. The

teer office. well-known Raja Man of Jodhpur was,

2 This legend is probably a vague it is believed, never in Nimar.

io6 BALA HI PART

replied that he would be unable to determine which of
the prisoners were really Balahis, On this the Balahi,
whose name was Ganga Kochla, replied that he had an
effective test. He therefore killed a cow, cooked its flesh
and invited the prisoners to partake of it. So many of them
as consented to eat were considered to be Balahis and
liberated ; but many members of other castes thus obtained
their freedom, and they and their descendants are now in-
cluded in the community. The subcastes or endogamous
groups distinctly indicate the functional character of the
caste, the names given being Nimari, Gannore, Katia, Kori
and Mahar. Of these Katia, Kori and Mahar are the
names of distinct castes, Nimari is a local subdivision in-
dicating those who speak the peculiar dialect of this tract,
and the Gannore are no doubt named after the Rajput clan
of that name, of whom their ancestors were not improbably
the illegitimate offspring. The Nimari Balahis are said to
rank lower than the rest, as they will eat the flesh of dead
cattle which the others refuse to do. They may not take
water from the village well, and unless a separate one can
be assigned to them, must pay others to draw water for
them. Partly no doubt in the hope of escaping from this
degraded position, many of the Nimari group became
Christians in the famine of 1897. They are considered to
be the oldest residents of Nimar. At marriages the Balahi
receives as his perquisite the leaf-plates used for feasts with
the leavings of food upon them ; and at funerals he takes
the cloth which covers the corpse on its way to the burning-
glidt. In Nimar the Korkus and Balahis each have a
separate burying-ground which is known as Murghata.^ The
Katias weave the finer kinds of cloth and rank a little
higher than the others. In Burhanpur, as already stated,
the caste are known as Bunkar, and they are probably
identical with the Bunkars of Khandesh ; Bunkar is simply
an occupational term meaning a weaver.
2. Mar- The caste have the usual system of exogamous groups,

"^^^' some of which are named after villages, while the designa-
tions of others are apparently nicknames given to the founder
of the clan, as Bagmar, a tiger-killer, Bhagoria, a runaway,

^ The ghat or river-bank for the disposal of corpses.

11 or ITER CUSTOMS 107

and so on. They employ a Brahman to calculate the
horoscopes of a bridal couple and fix the date of their
wedding, but if he says the marriage is inauspicious, they
merely obtain the permission of the caste panchdyat and
celebrate it on a Saturday or Sunday. Apparently, however,
they do not consult real Brahmans, but merely priests of their
own caste whom they call Balahi Brahmans. These Brahmans
are, nevertheless, said to recite the Satya Narayan Katha.
They also have gums or spiritual preceptors, being members
of the caste who have joined the mendicant orders ; and
Bhats or genealogists of their own caste who beg at their
weddings. They have the practice of serving for a wife,
known as Gharjamai or Lamjhana. When the pauper suitor
is finally married at the expense of his wife's father, a
marriage -shed is erected for him at the house of some
neighbour, but his own family are not invited to the
wedding.

After marriage a girl goes to her husband's house for a
few days and returns. The first Diwali or Akha-tij festival
after the wedding must also be passed at the husband's
house, but consummation is not effected until the ama or
gauna ceremony is performed on the attainment of puberty.
The cost of a wedding is about Rs. 80 to the bridegroom's
family and Rs. 20 to the bride's family. A widow is for-
bidden to marry her late husband's brother or other relatives.
At the wedding she is dressed in new clothes, and the fore-
heads of the couple are marked with cowdung as a sign of
purification. They then proceed by night to the husband's
village, and the woman waits till morning in some empty
building, when she enters her husband's house carrying two
water-pots on her head in token of the fertility which she is
to bring to it.

Like the Mahars, the Balahis must not kill a dog or a 3. other
cat under pain of expulsion ; but it is peculiar that in their
case the bear is held equally sacred, this being probably a
residue of some totemistic observance. The most binding
form of oath which they can use is by any one of these
animals. The Balahis will admit any Hindu into the
community except a man of the very lowest castes, and also
Gonds and Korkus. The head and face of the neophyte

io8 BALIJA PART

are shaved clean, and he is made to lie on the ground under
a string-cot ; a number of the Balahis sit on this and wash
themselves, letting the water drip from their bodies on to
the man below until he is well drenched ; he then gives a
feast to the caste-fellows, and is considered to have become
a Balahi. It is reported also that they will receive back
into the community Balahi women who have lived with men
of other castes and even with Jains and Muhammadans.
They will take food from members of these religions and of
any Hindu caste, except the most impure.

1. Origin Balija, Balji, Gurusthulu, Naidu. — A large trading
f"*^. . caste of the Madras Presidency, where they number a million

traditions. •' ' •'

persons. In the Central Provinces 1200 were enumerated
in 191 1, excluding 1500 Perikis, who though really a sub-
caste and not a very exalted one of Balijas,^ claim to be a
separate caste. They are mainly returned from places where
Madras troops have been stationed, as Nagpur, Jubbulpore
and Raipur. The caste are frequently known as Naidu,
a corruption of the Telugu word Nayakdu, a prince or
leader. Their ancestors are supposed to have been Nayaks
or kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar. The tra-
ditional occupation of the caste appears to have been to
make bangles and pearl and coral ornaments, and they have
still a subcaste called Gazulu, or a bangle-seller. In Madras
they are said to be an offshoot of the great cultivating castes
of Kamma and Kapu and to be a mixed community recruited
from these and other Telugu castes. Another proof of their
mixed descent may be inferred from the fact that they will
admit persons of other castes or the descendants of mixed
marriages into the community without much scruple in
Madras.^ The name of Balija seems also to have been
applied to a mixed caste started by Basava, the founder of
the Lingayat sect of Sivites, these persons being known in
Madras as Linga Balijas.

2. Mar- The Balijas have two main divisions, Desa or Kota, and
riage. Peta, the Desas or Kotas being those who claim descent from

the old Balija kings, while the Petas are the trading Balijas,
and are further subdivided into groups like the Gazulu or

1 Madras Census Report (1891), p. 277. - Ibidej?i (1891), p. 226.

II OCCUPATION AND SOCIAL STATUS 109

banglc-sellcrs and the Pcriki or salt-sellers. The subdivisions
are not strictly cndoj^amous. Every family has a surname,
and exogamous groups or gotras also exist, but these have
generally been forgotten, and marriages are regulated by the
surnames, the only prohibition being that persons of the
same surname may not intermarry. Instances of such names
are : Singiri, Gudari, Jadal, Sangnad and Dasiri. In fact
the rules of exogamy are so loose that an instance is known
of an uncle having married his niece. Marriage is usually
infant, and the ceremony lasts for five days. On the first
day the bride and bridegroom are seated on a yoke in the
pandal or marriage pavilion, where the relatives and guests
assemble. The bridegroom puts a pair of silver rings on the
bride's toes and ties the mangal-sfitravi or flat circular piece
of gold round her neck. On the next three days the bride-
groom and bride are made to sit on a plank or cot face to
face with each other and to throw flowers and play together
for two hours in the mornings and evenings. On the fourth
day, at dead of night, they are seated on a cot and the jewels
and gifts for the bride are presented, and she is then formally
handed over to the bridegroom's family. In Madras Mr.
Thurston ^ states that on the last day of the marriage
ceremony a mock ploughing and sowing rite is held, and
during this, the sister of the bridegroom puts a cloth over
the basket containing earth, wherein seeds are to be sown
by the bridegroom, and will not allow him to go on with
the ceremony till she has extracted a promise that his first-
born daughter shall marry her son. No bride-price is paid,
and the remarriage of widows is forbidden.

The Balijas bury their dead in a sitting posture. In the 3- Occupa-
Central Provinces they are usually Lingayats and especially soc'iai^
worship Gauri, Siva's wife. Jangams serve them as priests, status.
They usually eat flesh and drink liquor, but in Chanda it
is stated that both these practices are forbidden. In the
Central Provinces they are mainly cultivators, but some of
them still sell bangles and salt. Several of them are in
Government service and occupy a fairly high social position.

In Madras a curious connection exists between the
Kapus and Balijas and the impure Mala caste. It is said

1 Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 16,

no BALIJA partii

that once upon a time the Kapus and Balijas were flying from
the Muhammadans and came to the northern Pallar river in
high flood. They besought the river to go down and let
them across, but it demanded the sacrifice of a first-born
child. While the Kapus and Balijas were hesitating, the
Malas who had followed them boldly sacrificed one of their
children. Immediately the river divided before them and
they all crossed in safety. Ever since then the Kapus and
Balijas have respected the Malas, and the Balijas formerly
even deposited the images of the goddess Gauri, of Ganesha,
and of Siva's bull with the Malas, as the hereditary custo-
dians of their gods.^

1 Madras Census Report (1S91), p. 277.

BANIA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1 . Gc7ic7-al ttoticc.

2. The Banias a true caste : use

of the name.

3. Their distinctive occupation.

4. Tlicir distinctive status.

5. The endogamous divisions of

the Banias.

6. The Batiias derived from the

Riijputs.

7. Banias employed as ministers

in Rajpiit courts.

8. Subcastes.

9. Hindu and fain subcastes :

divisions among subcastes.
I o. Exogamy and rules regulating
marriage.

1 1 . Marriage customs.

12. Polygamy and widoiu-mar-

7'iage.

13. Disposal of the dead and

mournins:.

14. Religiofi : the god Ganpati or
Ganesh.

1 5 . Diwdli festival.

16. Holi festival.

17. Social customs: rules about

food.

18. Character of the Bania.

19. Dislike of the cultivators to-

Tvards him.

20. His virtues.

2 I . 'The moneylender changed J or

the worse.

22. The enforcement of contracts.

23. Cash coi?iage ajul the rate of

interest.

24. Proprietary and transferable

rights in land.
2 5 . The Ba7tia as a landlord.
2 6 . Commercial honesty.

LIST OF SUBORDINATE ARTICLES ON SUBCASTES

1. Agarwala, Aganval. 10. Kasarwani.

2. Agrahari. 11. Kasaundhan.

3. Ajudhiabasi, Audhia. 12. Khandelwal.

4. Asathi. 1 3. Lad.

5. Charnagri, Channagri, Sam- 14. Lingayat.

aiya. 15. Maheshri.

6. Dhusar, Bhargava Dhusar. 16. Nema.

7. Dosar, Dusra. 17. Oswal.

8. Gahoi. 18. Parwar.

9. Golapurab, Golahre. 19. Srimali.

20. Umre.

Bania, Bani, Vani, Mahajan, Seth, Sahukar. — The i. General
occupational caste of bankers, moneylenders and dealers in no^'ce.

BAN/A

2. The
Banias a
true

grain, ^//f (butter), groceries and spices. The name Bania is
derived from the Sanskrit vanij\ a merchant. In western
India the Banias are always called Vania or Vani. Mahajan
literally means a great man, and being applied to successful
Banias as an honorific title has now come to signify a
banker or moneylender ; Seth signifies a great merchant or
capitalist, and is applied to Banias as an honorific prefix. The
words Sdhu, Sao and SdJiukdr mean upright or honest, and
have also, curiously enough, come to signify a moneylender.
The total number of Banias in the Central Provinces in
191 1 was about 200,000, or rather over one per cent of
the population. Of the above total two-thirds were Hindus
and one-third Jains. The caste is fairly distributed over the
whole Province, being most numerous in Districts with large
towns and a considerable volume of trade.

There has been much difference of opinion as to whether
the name Bania should be taken to signify a caste, or whether
caste : use it is merely an occupational term applied to a number of
name^ distinct castcs. I venture to think it is necessary and

scientifically correct to take it as a caste. In Bengal the
word Banian, a corruption of Bania, has probably come to
be a general term meaning simply a banker, or person
dealing in money. But this does not seem to be the case
elsewhere. As a rule the name Bania is used only
as a caste name for groups who are considered both by
themselves and outsiders to belong to the Bania caste. It
may occasionally be applied to members of other castes, as
in the case of certain Teli-Banias who have abandoned oil-
pressing for shop-keeping, but such instances are very rare ;
and these Tel is would probably now assert that they belonged
to the Bania caste. That the Banias are recognised as a dis-
tinct caste by the people is shown by the number of uncom-
plimentary proverbs and sayings about them, which is far
larger than in the case of any other caste.^ In all these the
name Bania is used and not that of any subdivision, and
this indicates that none of the subdivisions are looked upon
as distinctive social groups or castes. Moreover, so far as I
am aware, the name Bania is applied regularly to all the
groups usually classified under the caste, and there is no

^ See para. 19 below.

II BAN! A it3

group which objects to the name or whose members refuse
to describe themselves by it. This is by no means always
the case with other important castes. The Rathor Telis of
Mandla entirely decline to answer to the name of Teli,
though they are classified under that caste. In the case of
the important Ahir or grazier caste, those who sell milk
instead of grazing cattle are called Gaoli, but remain
members of the AhIr caste. An AhIr in Chhattlsgarh would
be called Rawat and in the Maratha Districts Gowari, but
might still be an AhIr by caste. The Barai caste of betel-
vine growers and sellers is in some localities called Tamboli
and not Barai ; elsewhere it is known only as Pansari,
though the name Pansari is correctly an occupational term,
and, where it is not applied to the Barais, means a grocer or
druggist by profession and not a caste. Bania, on the other
hand, over the greater part of India is applied only to
persons who acknowledge themselves and are generally re-
cognised by Hindu society to be members of the Bania caste,
and there is no other name which is generally applied to any
considerable section of such persons. Certain of the more
important subcastes of Bania, as the Agarwala, Oswal and
Parwar, are, it is true, frequently known by the subcaste
name. But the caste name is as often as not, or even more
often, affixed to it. Agarwala, or Agarwala Bania, are names
equally applied to designate this subcaste, and similarly with
the Oswals and Parwars ; and even so the subcaste name is
only applied for greater accuracy and for compliment, since
these are the best subcastes ; the Bania's quarter of a town
will be called Bania Mahalla, and its residents spoken of as
Banias, even though they may be nearly all Agarwrds or
Oswals. Several Rajput clans are similarly spoken of by their
clan names, as Rathor, Panwar, and so on, without the addition
of the caste name Rajput. Brahman subcastes are usually
mentioned by their subcaste name for greater accuracy,
though in their case too it is usual to add the caste name.
And there are subdivisions of other castes, such as the Jaiswar
Chamars and the Somvansi Mehras, who invariably speak
of themselves only by their subcaste name, and discard the
caste name altogether, being ashamed of it, but are never-
theless held to belong to their parent castes. Thus in the
VOL. II I

114

BANIA

3. Their
distinctive
occupa-
tion.

4. Their

distinctive

status.

matter of common usage Bania conforms in all respects to
the requirements of a proper caste name.

The Banias have also a distinct and well - defined
traditional occupation/ which is followed by many or most
members of practically every subcaste so far as has been
observed. This occupation has caused the caste as a body
to be credited with special mental and moral characteristics
in popular estimation, to a greater extent perhaps than any
other caste. None of the subcastes are ashamed of their
traditional occupation or try to abandon it. It is true that
a few subcastes such as the Kasaundhans and Kasarwanis,
sellers of metal vessels, apparently had originally a some-
what different profession, though resembling the traditional
one ; but they too, if they once only sold vessels, now
engage largely in the traditional Bania's calling, and deal
generally in grain and money. The Banias, no doubt
because it is both profitable and respectable, adhere more
generally to their traditional occupation than almost any
great caste, except the cultivators. Mr. Marten's analysis ^
of the occupations of different castes shows that sixty per
cent of the Banias are still engaged in trade ; while only
nineteen per cent of Brahmans follow a religious calling ;
twenty-nine per cent of Ahirs are graziers, cattle-dealers or
milkmen ; only nine per cent of Telis are engaged in all
branches of industry, including their traditional occupation
of oil - pressing ; and similarly only twelve per cent of
Chamars work at industrial occupations, including that of
curing hides. In respect of occupation therefore the Banias
strictly fulfil the definition of a caste.

The Banias have also a distinctive social status. They
are considered, though perhaps incorrectly, to represent the
Vaishyas or third great division of the Aryan twice-born ;
they rank just below Rajputs and perhaps above all other
castes except Brahmans ; Brahmans will take food cooked
without water from many Banias and drinking-water from
all. Nearly all Banias wear the sacred thread ; and the
Banias are distinguished by the fact that they abstain more
rigorously and generally from all kinds of flesh food than

* See commencement of article. pation Chapter, Subsidiary Table I.

2 C.P. Census Report (191 1), Occu- p. 234.

II rilE ENDOGAMOUS DIVISIONS OF THE BANIAS 115

any other caste. Their rules as to diet are exceptionally
strict, and are equally observed by the great majority of the
subdivisions.

Thus the Banias apparently fulfil the definition of a 5. The
caste, as consisting: of one or more endoiramous rroups or '="'^'"K''^"

' *^ fc> & r mous

subcastes with a distinct name applied to them all and to divisions of
them only, a distinctive occupation and a distinctive social ^ *" ^"'^^'
status ; and there seems no reason for not considering them
a caste. If on the other hand we examine the subcastes
of Bania we find that the majority of them have names
derived from places,^ not indicating any separate origin,
occupation or status, but only residence in separate tracts.
Such divisions are properly termed subcastes, being endoga-
mous only, and in no other way distinctive. No subcaste
can be markedly distinguished from the others in respect
of occupation or social status, and none apparently can
therefore be classified as a separate caste. There are no
doubt substantial differences in status between the highest
subcastes of Bania, the Agarwals, Oswals and Parwars, and
the lower ones, the Kasaundhan, Kasarwani, Dosar and
others. But this diflference is not so great as that which
separates different groups included in such important castes
as Rajput and Bhat. It is true again that subcastes like
the Agarwals and Oswals are individually important, but
not more so than the Maratha, Khedawal, Kanaujia and
Maithil Brahmans, or the Sesodia, Rathor, Panwar and
Jadon Rajputs. The higher subcastes of Bania themselves
recognise a common relationship by taking food cooked
without water from each other, which is a very rare custom
among subcastes. Some of them are even said to have
intermarried. If on the other hand it is argued, not that
two or three or more of the important subdivisions should
be erected into independent castes, but that Bania is not a
caste at all, and that every subcaste should be treated as a
separate caste, then such purely local groups as Kanaujia,
Jaiswar, Gujarati, Jaunpuri and others, which are found in
forty or fifty other castes, would have to become separate

1 For examples, the subordinate basi, and Srimali may be consulted,
articles on Agarwal, Oswal, Maheshri, The census lists contain numerous other
Khandelwal, Lad, Agrahari, Ajudhia- territorial names.

ii6 BAN I A PART

castes ; and if in this one case why not in all the other
castes where they occur ? This would result in the im-
possible position of having forty or fifty castes of the same
name, which recognise no connection of any kind with each
other, and make any arrangement or classification of castes
altogether impracticable. And in 191 i out of 200,000
Banias in the Central Provinces, 43,000 were returned with
no subcaste at all, and it would therefore be impossible to
classify these under any other name.

The Banias have been commonly supposed to represent
the Vaishyas or third of the four classical castes, both by
Hindu society generally and by leading authorities on the
subject. It is perhaps this view of their origin which is
partly responsible for the tendency to consider them as
several castes and not one. But its accuracy is doubtful.
The important Bania groups appear to be of Rajput stock.
They nearly all -come from Rajputana, Bundelkhand or
Gujarat, that is from the homes of the principal Rajput
clans. Several of them have legends of Rajput descent.
The Agarwalas say that their first ancestor was a Kshatriya
king, who married a Naga or snake princess ; the Naga race
is supposed to have signified the Scythian immigrants, who
were snake- worshippers and from whom several clans of
Rajputs were probably derived. The Agarwalas took their
name from the ancient city of Agroha or possibly from Agra.
The Oswals say that their ancestor was the Rajput king of
Osnagar in Marwar, who with his followers was converted
by a Jain mendicant. The Nemas state that their ancestors
were fourteen young Rajput princes who escaped the
vengeance of Parasurama by abandoning the profession of
arms and taking to trade. The Khandelwals take their
name from the town of Khandela in Jaipur State of
Rajputana. The Kasarwanis say they immigrated from
Kara Manikpur in Bundelkhand. The origin of the Umre
Banias is not known, but in Gujarat they are also called
Bagaria from the Bagar or wild country of the Dongarpur
and Pertabgarh States of Rajputana, where numbers of them
arc still settled ; the name Bagaria would appear to indicate
that they are supposed to have immigrated thence into
Gujarat. The Dhusar Banias ascribe their name to a hill

Bt^;irose, Couj.. Dt:)by.

IMAGE OF THE GOD GANPATI CARRIED IN PROCESSION.

II THE BANIAS DERIVED FROM THE RAJPUTS 117

called Dhusi or Dhosi on the border of Alwar State. The
Asfitis say that their original home was Tikamgarh State
in Bundelkhand. The name of the Maheshris is held to
be derived from Maheshwar, an ancient town on the Ner-
budda, near Indore, which is traditionally supposed to have
been the earliest settlement of the Yadava Rajputs. The
headquarters of the Gahoi Banias is said to have been at
Kharagpur in Bundelkhand, though according to their own
legend they are of mixed origin. The home of the Srimalis
was the old town of Srimal, now Bhinmal in Marwar. The
Palliwal Banias were from the well-known trading town of
Pali in Marwar. The Jaiswal are said to take their name
from Jaisalmer State, which was their native country. The
above are no doubt only a fraction of the Bania subcastes,
but they include nearly all the most important and re-
presentative ones, from whom the caste takes its status and
character. Of the numerous other groups the bulk have
probably been brought into existence through the migration
and settlement of sections of the caste in dafferent parts of
the country, where they have become endogamous and
obtained a fresh name. Other subcastes may be composed
of bodies of persons who, having taken to trade and
prospered, obtained admission to the Bania caste through the
efforts of their Brahman priests. But a number of mixed
groups of the same character are also found among the Brah-
mans and Rajputs, and their existence does not invalidate
arguments derived from a consideration of the representative
subcastes. It may be said that not only the Banias, but
many of the low castes have legends showing them to be of
Rajput descent of the same character as those quoted above ;
and since in their case these stories have been adjudged
spurious and worthless, no greater importance should be
attached to those of the Banias. But it must be remembered
that in the case of the Banias the stories are reinforced by
the fact that the Bania subcastes certainly come from
Rajputana ; no doubt exists that they are of high caste, and
that they must either be derived from Brahmans or Rajputs,
or themselves represent some separate foreign group ; but if
they are really the descendants of the Vaishyas, the main body
of the Aryan immigrants and the third of the four classical

ii8 BANIA PART

castes, It might be expected that their legends would show
some trace of this instead of being unitedly in favour of
their Rajput origin.

Colonel Tod gives a catalogue of the eighty -four
mercantile tribes, whom he states to be chiefly of Rajput
descent.^ In this list the Agarwal, Oswal, Srimal,
Khandelwal, Palliwal and Lad subcastes occur ; while the
Dhakar and Dhusar subcastes may be represented by the
names Dhakarwal and Dusora in the lists. The other
names given by Tod appear to be mainly small territorial
groups of Rajputana. Elsewhere, after speaking of the
claims of certain towns in Rajputana to be centres of trade,
Colonel Tod remarks : " These pretensions we may the more
readily admit, when we recollect that nine-tenths of the
bankers and commercial men of India are natives of
Marudesh,'' and these chiefly of the Jain faith. The Oswals,
so termed from the town of Osi, near the Luni, estimate
one hundred thousand families whose occupation is com-
merce. All these claim a Rajput descent, a fact entirely
unknown to the European inquirer into the peculiarities of
Hindu manners." ^

Similarly, Sir D. Ibbetson states that the Maheshri
Banias claim Rajput origin and still have subdivisions
bearing Rajput names.^ Elliot also says that almost all the
mercantile tribes of Hindustan are of Rajput descent.^

It would appear, then, that the Banias are an offshoot
from the Rajputs, who took to commerce and learnt to read
and write for the purpose of keeping accounts. The Charans
or bards are another literate caste derived from the Rajputs,
and it may be noticed that both the Banias and Charans or
Bhats have hitherto been content with the knowledge of their
own rude Marwari dialect and evinced no desire for classical
learning or higher English education. Matters are now
changing, but this attitude shows that they have hitherto not
desired education for itself but merely as an indispensable
adjunct to their business.

Being literate, the Banias were not infrequently employed

^ Kajaslhdn, i. pp. 76, 109. '^ Rajasthan, ii. p. 145.

^ That is Marwar. But perhaps the •* Punjab Censjts Report {1881), p.

term here is used in the wider sense of 293.

Rajputana. '' Supplemental Glossary, p. no.

II sun CASTES 119

as ministers and treasurers in Rajput states. Forbes says, 7. Hanias
in an account of an Indian court : " Beside the king stand the asminfslcrs
warriors of Rajput race or, equally gallant in the field and i" Kfijput
wiser far in council, the Wania (Bania) Muntreshwars,
already in profession puritans of peace, and not yet drained
enough of their fiery Kshatriya blood. ... It is remark-
able that so many of the officers possessing high rank and
holding independent commands are represented to have
been Wanias," ^ Colonel Tod writes that Nunkurn, the
Kachhwaha chief of the Shekhawat federation, had a
minister named Devi Das of the Bania or mercantile caste,
and, like thousands of that caste, energetic, shrewd and
intelligent." Similarly, Muhaj, the Jadon Bhatti chief of
Jaisalmer, by an unhappy choice of a Bania minister, com-
pleted the demoralisation of the Bhatti state. This minister
was named Sarup Singh, a Bania of the Jain faith and Mehta
family, whose descendants were destined to be the ex-
terminators of the laws and fortunes of the sons of Jaisal.^
Other instances of the employment of Bania ministers are to
be found in Rajput history. Finally, it may be noted that
the Banias are by no means the only instance of a mercantile
class formed from the Rajputs. The two important trading
castes of Khatri and Bhatia are almost certainly of Rajput
origin, as is shown in the articles on those castes.

The Banias are divided into a large number of endo- 8. Sub-
gamous groups or subcastes, of which the most important
have been treated in the annexed subordinate articles. The
minor subcastes, mainly formed by migration, vary greatly in
different provinces. Colonel Tod gave a list of eighty-four
in Rajputana, of which eight or ten only can be identified in
the Central Provinces, and of thirty mentioned by Bhatta-
charya as the most common groups in northern India, about
a third are unknown in the Central Provinces. The origin
of such subcastes has already been explained. The main
subcastes may be classified roughly into groups coming from
Rajputana, Bundelkhand and the United Provinces. The
leading Rajputana groups are the Oswal, Maheshri, Khandel-
wal, Saitwal, Srimal and Jaiswal. These groups are com-

^ J\ds?Hala, i. pp. 240, 243.
2 Riljasthan, ii. p. 360. 2 Jbid. ii. p. 240.

BANIA

monly known as Marwari Bania or simply Marwari. The
Bundelkhand or Central India subcastes are the Gahoi,
Golapurab, Asati, Umre and Parwar ; ^ while the Agarwal,
Dhusar, Agrahari, Ajudhiabasi and others come from the
United Provinces. The Lad subcaste is from Gujarat,
while the Lingayats originally belonged to the Telugu and
Canarese country. Several of the subcastes coming from
the same locality will take food cooked without water from
each other, and occasionally two subcastes, as the Oswal and
Khandelwal, even food cooked with water or katcJii. This
practice is seldom found in other good castes. It is prob-
ably due to the fact that the rules about food are less
strictly observed in Rajputana.

Another classification may be made of the subcastes
according as they are of the Hindu or Jain religion ; the
important Jain subcastes are the Oswal, Parwar, Golapurab,
Saitwal and Charnagar, and one or two smaller ones, as the
Baghelwal and Samaiya. The other subcastes are prin-
cipally Hindu, but many have a Jain minority, and similarly
the Jain subcastes return a proportion of Hindus. The
difference of religion counts for very little, as practically all
the non-Jain Banias are strict Vaishnava Hindus, abstain
entirely from any kind of flesh meat, and think it a sin
to take animal life ; while on their side the Jains employ
Brahmans for certain purposes, worship some of the local
Hindu deities, and observe the principal Hindu festivals.
The Jain and Hindu sections of a subcaste have conse-
quently, as a rule, no objection to taking food together, and
will sometimes intermarry. Several of the important sub-
castes are subdivided into Bisa and Dasa, or twenty and ten
groups. The Bisa or twenty group is of pure descent, or
twenty carat, as it were, while the Dasas are considered
to have a certain amount of alloy in their family pedigree.
They are the offspring of remarried widows, and perhaps
occasionally of still more irregular unions. Intermarriage
sometimes takes place between the two groups, and families
in the Dasa group, by living a respectable life and marrying
well, improve their status, and perhaps ultimately get back

' The Parwars probably belonged originally to Rajputana ; see subordinate
article.

II EXOGAMY AND RULES REGULATING MARRIAGE 121

into the Bisa group. As the Dasas become more respectable
they will not admit to their communion newly remarried
widows or couples who have married within the prohibited
degrees, or otherwise made a incsalliance, and hence a third
inferior group, called the Pacha or five, is brought into
existence to make room for these.

Most subcastes have an elaborate system of exogamy. 10. Exo-
Thcy are either divided into a large number of sections, f^ie^ ^"
or into a i^w gotras, usually twelve, each of which is further regulating
split up into subsections. Marriage can then be regulated "^''''^'"'^se-
by forbidding a man to take a wife from the whole of his
own section or from the subsection of his mother, grand-
mothers and even greatgrandmothers. By this means the
union of persons within five or more degrees of relationship
either through males or females is avoided, and most Ijanias
prohibit intermarriage, at any rate nominally, up to five
degrees. Such practices as exchanging girls between
families or marrying two sisters are, as a rule, prohibited.
The gotras or main sections appear to be frequently named
after Brahman Rishis or saints, while the subsections have
names of a territorial or titular character.

There is generally no recognised custom of paying a n- Mar-
bride- or bridegroom -price, but one or two instances of cusloms.
its being done are given in the subordinate articles.
On the occasion of betrothal, among some subcastes, the
boy's father proceeds to the girl's house and presents her
with a vidla or necklace of gold or silver coins or coral, and
a muiidri or silver ring for the finger. The contract of
betrothal is made at the village temple and the caste-fellows
sprinkle turmeric and water over the parties. Before the
wedding the ceremony of Benaiki is performed ; in this the
bridegroom, riding on a horse, and the bride on a decorated
chair or litter, go round their villages and say farewell to
their friends and relations. Sometimes they have a pro-
cession in this way round the marriage-shed. Among the
Marwari Banias a toran or string of mango-leaves is stretched
above the door of the house on the occasion of a wedding
and left there for six months. And a wooden triangle with
figures perched on it to represent sparrows is tied over
the door. The binding portion of the wedding is the pro-

122 BANIA PART

cession seven times round the marriage altar or post. In
some Jain subcastes the bridegroom stands beside the
post and the bride walks seven times round him, while
he throws sugar over her head at each turn. After the
wedding the couple are made to draw figures out of flour
sprinkled on a brass plate in token of the bridegroom's
occupation of keeping accounts. It is customary for the
bride's family to give sidha or uncooked food sufficient for a
day's consumption to every outsider who accompanies the
marriage party, while to each member of the caste pro-
visions for two to five days are given. This is in addition
to the evening feasts and involves great expense. Some-
times the wedding lasts for eight days, and feasts are given
for four days by the bridegroom's party and four days by
the bride's. It is said that in some places before a Bania
has a wedding he goes before the caste panchdyat and they
ask him how many people he is going to invite. If he says
five hundred, they prescribe the quantity of the different
kinds of provisions which he must supply. Thus they may
say forty maunds (3 200 lbs.) of sugar and flour, with butter,
spices, and other articles in proportion. He says, ' Gentle-
men, I am a poor man ; make it a little less ' ; or he says
he will give gur or cakes of raw cane sugar instead of
refined sugar. Then they say, ' No, your social position is
too high for gur ; you must have sugar for all purposes.'
The more guests the host invites the higher is his social
consideration ; and it is said that if he does not maintain
this his life is not worth living. Sometimes the exact
amount of entertainment to be given at a wedding is fixed,
and if a man cannot afford it at the time he must give the
balance of the feasts at any subsequent period when he has
money ; and if he fails to do this he is put out of caste.
The bride's father is often called on to furnish a certain sum
for the travelling expenses of the bridegroom's party, and if
he does not send this money they do not come. The dis-
tinctive feature of a Bania wedding in the northern Districts
is that women accompany the marriage procession, and the
Banias are the only high caste in which they do this.
Hence a high-caste wedding party in which women are
present can be recognised to be a Bania's. In the Maratha

II rOL YGAM V AND IVIDO IV- MA RRIA GR 123

Districts women also go, but here this custom obtains among
other high castes. The bridegroom's party hire or borrow a
house in the bride's village, and here they erect a marriage-
shed and go through the preliminary ceremonies of the
wedding on the bridegroom's side as if they were at home.

Polygamy is very rare among the Banias, and it is 12. Poiy-
generally the rule that a man must obtain the consent of ^tdow^"
his first wife before taking a second one. In the absence of marriage,
this precaution for her happiness, parents will refuse to give
him their daughter. The remarriage of widows is nominally
prohibited, but frequently occurs, and remarried widows are
relegated to the inferior social groups in each subcaste as
already described. Divorce is also said to be prohibited,
but it is probable that women put away for adultery are
allowed to take refuge in such groups instead of being finally
expelled.

The dead are cremated as a rule, and the ashes are 13. Dis-
thrown into a sacred river or any stream. The bodies of fj^g'^^g^^i
young children and of persons dying from epidemic disease and
are buried. The period of mourning must be for an odd '""^'""'"S-
number of days. On the third day a leaf plate with cooked
food is placed on the ground where the body was burnt, and
on some subsequent day a feast is given to the caste. Rich
Banias will hire people to mourn. Widows and young girls
are usually employed, and these come and sit before the
house for an hour in the morning and sometimes also in the
evening, and covering their heads with their cloths, beat their
breasts and make lamentations. Rich men may hire as
many as ten mourners for a period of one, two or three
months. The Marwaris, when a girl is born, break an
earthen pot to show that they have had a misfortune ; but
when a boy is born they beat a brass plate in token of
their joy.

Nearly all the Banias are Jains or Vaishnava Hindus. 14. Reii-
An account of the Jain religion has been given in a separate |o°^G^n^
article, and some notice of the retention of Hindu practices pati or
by the Jains is contained in the subordinate article on Parwar
Bania. The Vaishnava Banias no less than the Jains are
strongly averse to the destruction of animal life, and will not
kill any living thing. Their principal deity is the god Ganesh

124 BAN I A PART

or Ganpati, the son of Mahadeo and Parvati, who is the god
of good-luck, wealth and prosperity. Ganesh is represented
in sculpture with the head of an elephant and riding on a
rat, though the rat is now covered by the body of the god
and is scarcely visible. He has a small body like a child's
with a fat belly and round plump arms. Perhaps his body
signifies that he is figured as a boy, the son of Parvati or
Gauri. In former times grain was the main source of wealth,
and from the appearance of Ganesh it can be understood
why he is the god of overflowing granaries, and hence of
wealth and good fortune. The elephant is a sacred animal
among Hindus, and that on which the king rides. To have
an elephant was a mark of wealth and distinction among
Banias, and the Jains harness the cars of their gods to
elephants at their great rath or chariot festival. Gajpati or
' lord of elephants ' is a title given to a king ; Gajanand or
' elephant -faced ' is an epithet of the god Ganesh and a
favourite Hindu name. Gajvlthi or the track of the elephant
is a name of the Milky Way, and indicates that there is
believed to be a divine elephant who takes this course
through the heavens. The elephant eats so much grain that
only a comparatively rich man can afford to keep one ; and
hence it is easy to understand how the attribute of plenty or
of wealth was associated with the divine elephant as his
special characteristic. Similarly the rat is connected with
overflowing granaries, because when there is much corn in a
Hindu house or store-shed there will be many rats ; thus a
multitude of rats implied a rich household, and so this animal
too came to be a symbol of wealth. The Hindus do not now
consider the rat sacred, but they have a tenderness for it,
especially in the Maratha country. The more bigoted of
them objected to rats being poisoned as a means of checking
plague, though observation has fully convinced them that
rats spread the plague ; and in the Bania hospitals, formerly
maintained for preserving the lives of animals, a number of
rats were usually to be found. The rat, in fact, may now be
said to stand to Ganpati in the position of a disreputable
poor relation. No attempt is made to deny his existence,
but he is kept in the background as far as possible. The god
Ganpati is also associated with wealth of grain through his

II RELIGION— DIWALI FESTIVAL 125

parentage. He is the offspring of Siva or Mahadco and his
wife Devi or Gauri. Mahadeo is in this case probably taken
in his beneficent cliaracter of the deified bull ; Devi in her
most important aspect as the great mother-goddess is the
earth, but as mother of Ganesh she is probably imagined in
her special form of Gauri, the yellow one, that is, the yellow
corn. Gauri is closely associated with Ganesh, and every
Hindu bridal couple worship Gauri Ganesh together as an
important rite of the wedding. Their conjunction in this
manner lends colour to the idea that they are held to be
mother and son. In Rajputana Gauri is worshipped as the
corn goddess at the Gangore festival about the time of the
vernal equinox, especially by women. The meaning of
Gauri, Colonel Tod states, is yellow, emblematic of the
ripened harvest, when the votaries of the goddess adore her
effigies, in the shape of a matron painted the colour of
ripe corn. Here she is seen as Ana-purna (the corn-goddess),
the benefactress of mankind. " The rites commence when
the sun enters Aries (the opening of the Hindu year), by a
deputation to a spot beyond the city to bring earth for the
image of Gauri. A small trench is then excavated in which
barley is sown ; the ground is irrigated and artificial heat
supplied till the grain germinates, when the females join
hands and dance round it, invoking the blessings of Gauri
on their husbands. The young corn is then taken up, dis-
tributed and presented by the females to the men, who wear
it in their turbans." ^ Thus if Ganesh is the son of Gauri he
is the offspring of the bull and the growing corn ; and his
genesis from the elephant and the rat show him equally as
the god of full granaries, and hence of wealth and good
fortune. We can understand therefore how he is the special
god of the Banias, who formerly must have dealt almost
entirely in grain, as coined money had not come into
general use.

At the Diwali festival the Banias worship Ganpati or 15. Diwaii
Ganesh, in conjunction with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
Lakshmi is considered to be the deified cow, and, as such,
the other main source of wealth, both as mother of the bull,
the tiller of the soil, and the giver of milk from which ghl

1 RdjasthiDi, i. p. 491.

festival.

126 BANIA PART

(clarified butter) is made ; this is another staple of the
Bania's trade, as well as a luxurious food, of which he is
especially fond. At Diwali all Banias make up their
accounts for the year, and obtain the signatures of clients
to their balances. They open fresh account-books, which
they first worship and adorn with an image of Ganesh, and
perhaps an invocation to the god on the front page. A
silver rupee is also worshipped as an emblem of Lakshmi,
but in some cases an English sovereign, as a more precious
coin, has been substituted, and this is placed on the seat
of the goddess and reverence paid to it. The Banias and
Hindus generally think it requisite to gamble at Diwali in
order to bring good luck during the coming year ; all
classes indulge in a little speculation at this season.

In the month of Phagun (February), about the time of
the Holi, the Marwaris make an image of mud naked,
calling it Nathu Ram, who was supposed to be a great
Marwari. They mock at this and throw mud at it, and
beat it with shoes, and have various jests and sports. The
men and women are divided into two parties, and throw
dirty water and red powder over each other, and the women
make whips of cloth and beat the men. After two or three
days, they break up the image and throw it away. The
Banias, both Jain and Hindu, like to begin the day by
going and looking at the god in his temple. This is con-
sidered an auspicious omen in the same manner as it is
commonly held to be a good omen to see some particular
person or class of person the first thing in the morning.
Others begin the day by worshipping the sacred Udsi or
basil.

The Banias arc very strict about food. The majority
of them abstain from all kinds of flesh food and alcoholic
liquor. The Kasarwanis are reported to eat the flesh of
clean animals, and perhaps others of the lower subcastes
may also do so, but the Banias are probably stricter than
any other caste in their adherence to a vegetable diet.
Many of them eschew also onions and garlic as impure
food. Banias take the lead in the objection to foreign
sugar on account of the stories told of the impure ingredients
which it contains, and many of them, until recently, at any

Bemrose. Colic, Derby.

MUD IMAGES. MADE BY WORSHIPPERS AT THE
HOLI FESTIVAL. AND AFTERWARDS DESTROYED.

11 SOCIAL CUSTOMS: RULES ABOUT FOOD 127

rate, still adhered to Indian sugar. Drugs arc not forbidden,
but they are not usually addicted to them. Tobacco is
forbidden to the Jains, but both they and the Hindus smoke,
and their women sometimes chew tobacco. The Bania
while he is poor is very abstemious, and it is said that on
a day when he has made no money he goes supperless to
bed. But when he has accumulated wealth, he develops
a fondness for ghl or preserved butter, which often causes
him to become portly. Otherwise his food remains simple,
and as a rule he confined himself until recently to two daily
meals, at midday and in the evening ; but Banias, like most
other classes who can afford it, have now begun to drink
tea in the morning. In dress the Bania is also simple,
adhering to the orthodox Hindu garb of a long white coat
and a loin-cloth. He has not yet adopted the cotton
trousers copied from the English fashion. Some Banias
in their shops wear only a cloth over their shoulders and
another round their waist. The kardora or silver waist-
belt is a favourite Bania ornament, and though plainly
dressed in ordinary life, rich Marwaris will on special festival
occasions wear costly jewels. On his head the Marwari
wears a small tightly folded turban, often coloured crimson,
pink or yellow ; a green turban is a sign of mourning and
also black, though the latter is seldom seen. The Banias
object to taking the life of any animal. They will not
castrate cattle even through their servants, but sell the
young bulls and buy oxen. In Saugor, a Bania is put out
of caste if he keeps buffaloes. It is supposed that good
Hindus should not keep buffaloes nor use them for carting
or ploughing, because the buffalo is impure, and is the
animal on which Yama, the god of death, rides. Thus
in his social observances generally the Bania is one of the
strictest castes, and this is a reason why his social status is
high. Sometimes he is even held superior to the Rajput,
as the local Rajputs are often of impure descent and lax in
their observance of religious and social restrictions. Though
he soon learns the vernacular language of the country where
he settles, the Marwari usually retains his own native dialect
in his account-books, and this makes it more difficult for
his customers to understand them.

128 BANIA PART

The Bania has a very distinctive caste character. From
early boyhood he is trained to the keeping of accounts and
to the view that it is his business in Hfe to make money,
and that no transaction should be considered successful or
creditable which does not show a profit. As an apprentice,
he goes through a severe training in mental arithmetic, so
as to enable him to make the most intricate calculations in
his head. With this object a boy commits to memory a
number of very elaborate tables. For whole numbers he
learns by heart the units from one to ten multiplied as high
as forty times, and the numbers from eleven to twenty
multiplied to twenty times. There are also fractional tables,
giving the results of multiplying \, \, |, ij, i|, 2\, and 3^
into units from one to one hundred ; interest-tables showing
the interest due on any sum from one to one thousand
rupees for one month, and for a quarter of a month at
twelve per cent ; tables of the squares of all numbers from
one to one hundred, and a set of technical rules for finding
the price of a part from the price of the whole.^ The self-
denial and tenacity which enable the Bania without capital
to lay the foundations of a business are also remarkable.
On first settling in a new locality, a Marwari Bania takes
service with some shopkeeper, and by dint of the strictest
economy puts together a little money. Then the new
trader establishes himself in some village and begins to
make grain advances to the cultivators on high rates of
interest, though occasionally on bad security. He opens
a shop and retails grain, pulses, condiments, spices, sugar
and flour. From grain he gradually passes to selling cloth
and lending money, and being keen and exacting, and
having to deal with ignorant and illiterate clients, he
acquires wealth ; this he invests in purchasing villages,
and after a time blossoms out into a big Seth or banker.
The liania can also start a retail business without capital.
The way in which he does it is to buy a rupee's worth
of stock in a town, and take it out early in the morning
to a village, where he sits on the steps of the temple
until he has sold it. Up till then he neither eats nor
washes his face. 1 le comes back in the evening after

1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gttjariit, p. 80.

II DISLIKE OF THE CULTIVATORS TOWARDS IIIM 129

having eaten two or three pice worth of grain, and buys a
fresh stocic, whicli he takes out to another village in the
morning. Thus he turns over his capital with a profit two
or three times a week according to the saying, " If a Bania
gets a rupee he will have an income of eight rupees a
month," or as another proverb pithily sums up the immigrant
Marwfiri's career, ' He comes with a lota ^ and goes back with
a lakh.' The Bania never writes off debts, even though his
debtor may be a pauper, but goes on entering them up year
by year in his account-books and taking the debtor's acknow-
ledgment. For he says, ' Ptirus Pdnisl or man is like the
philosopher's stone, and his fortune may change any day.

The cultivators rarely get fair treatment from the Banias, 19. Dis-
as the odds are too much against them. They must have ''^^.o*^ ^^e

o -I cultivators

money to sow their land, and live while the crops are towards
growing, and the majority who have no capital are at the '"^'
moneylender's mercy. He is of a different caste, and often
of a different country, and has no fellow-feeling towards
them, and therefore considers the transaction merely from
the business point of view of getting as much profit as
possible. The debtors are illiterate, often not even under-
standing the meaning of figures, or the result of paying
compound interest at twenty-five or fifty per cent ; they can
neither keep accounts themselves nor check their creditor's.
Hence they are entirely in his hands, and in the end their
villages or land, if saleable, pass to him, and they decline
from landlord to tenant, or from tenant to labourer. They
have found vent for their feelings in some of the bitterest
sayings ever current : * A man who has a Bania for a friend
has no need of an enemy.' ' Borrow from a Bania and you
are as good as ruined.' ' The rogue cheats strangers and
the Bania cheats his friends.' ' Kick a Bania even if he is
dead.' " His heart, we are told, is no bigger than a coriander
seed ; he goes in Hke a needle and comes out like a sword ;
as a neighbour he is as bad as a boil in the armpit. If a
Bania is on the other side of a river you should leave your
bundle on this side for fear he should steal it. If a Bania
is drowning you should not give him your hand ; he is
sure to have some pecuniary motive for drifting down-stream.

^ The common brass drinking-vessel,
VOL. II K

virtues.

130 BANIA PART

A Bania will start an auction in a desert. If a Bania's son
tumbles down he is sure to pick up something. He uses
light weights and swears that the scales tip up of themselves ;
he keeps his accounts in a character that no one but God
can read ; if you borrow from him your debt mounts up like
a refuse-heap or gallops like a horse ; if he talks to a
customer he debits the conversation in his accounts ; and
when his own credit is shaky he writes up his transactions on
the wall so that they can easily be rubbed out." ^
20. His Nevertheless there is a good deal to be said on the other

side, and the Bania's faults are probably to a large extent
produced by his environment, like other people's. One of
the Bania's virtues is that he will lend on security which
neither the Government nor the banks would look at, or on
none at all. Then he will always wait a long time for his
money, especially if the interest is paid. No doubt this is
no loss to him, as he keeps his money out at good interest ;
but it is a great convenience to a client that his debt can be
postponed in a bad year, and that he can pay as much as
he likes in a good one. The village moneylender is in-
dispensable to its economy when the tenants are like school-
boys in that money burns a hole in their pocket ; and Sir
Denzil Ibbetson states that it is surprising how much
reasonableness and honesty there is in his dealings with the
people, so long as he can keep his transactions out of a
court of justice.^ Similarly, Sir Reginald Craddock writes :
" The village Bania is a much-abused individual, but he is as
a rule a quiet, peaceable man, a necessary factor in the village
economy. He is generally most forbearing with his clients
and customers, and is not the person most responsible for
the indebtedness of the ryot. It is the casual moneylender
with little or no capital who lives by his wits, or the large
firms with shops and agents scattered over the face of the
country who work the serious mischief. These latter en-
courage the people to take loans and discourage repayment
until the debt has increased by accumulation of interest to
a sum from which the borrower cannot easily free himself" ^

1 Sir II. II. "RisXty^s Peoples of India, p. 291.
p. 127, and Appendix I. p. 8. ^ Nagptu- Setllement Report (1900),

2 Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 54.

II MONEYLENDER CHANGED EOR TlfE WORSE 131

The progress of administration, bringing with it easy 21. The
and safe transit all over the country ; the institution of a '""'"^y"

■' lender

complete system of civil justice and the stringent enforce- changed

ment of contracts through the courts ; the introduction of ^°'^ ''^'^
_ ^ ' worse.

cash coinage as the basis of all transactions ; and the grant
of proprietary and transferable rights in land, appear to have
at the same time enhanced the Bania's prosperity and
increased the harshness and rapacity of his dealings. When
the moneylender lived in the village he had an interest in
the solvency of the tenants who constituted his clientele and
was also amenable to public opinion, even though not of his
own caste. For it would clearly be an impossibly unpleasant
position for him to meet no one but bitter enemies whenever
he set foot outside his house, and to go to bed in nightly
fear of being dacoited and murdered by a combination of
his next-door neighbours. He therefore probably adopted
the motto of live and let live, and conducted his transactions
on a basis of custom, like the other traders and artisans who
lived among the village community. But with the rise of
the large banking - houses whose dealings are conducted
through agents over considerable tracts of country, public
opinion can no longer act. The agent looks mainly to his
principal, and the latter has no interest in or regard for the
cultivators of distant villages. He cares only for his profit,
and his business is conducted with a single view to that end.
He himself has no public opinion to face, as he lives in a
town among a community of his caste-fellows, and here
absolutely no discredit is attached to grinding the faces of
the poor, but on the contrary the honour and consideration
accruing to him are in direct proportion to his wealth. The
agent may have some compunction, but his first aim is to
please his principal, and as he is often a sojourner liable to
early transfer he cares little what may be said or thought
about him locally.

Again the introduction of the English law of contract 22. The
and transfer of property, and the increase in the habit of enforce-

11 ment of

litigation have greatly altered the character of the money- contracts,
lending business for the worse. The debtor signs a bond
sometimes not even knowing the conditions, more often
having heard them but without any clear idea of their effect

BANIA

or of the consequences to himself, and as readily allows it to
be registered. When it comes into court the witnesses, who
are the moneylender's creatures, easily prove that it was a
genuine and bona fide transaction, and the debtor is too
ignorant and stupid to be able to show that he did not
understand the bargain or that it was unconscionable. In
any case the court has little or no power to go behind a
properly executed contract without any actual evidence of
fraud, and has no option but to decree it in terms of the
deed. This evil is likely to be remedied very shortly, as
the Government of India have announced a proposal to
introduce the recent English Act and allow the courts the
discretion to go behind contracts, and to refuse to decree
exorbitant interest or other hard bargains. This urgently
needed reform will, it may be hoped, greatly improve the
character of the civil administration by encouraging the
courts to realise that it is their business to do justice between
litigants, and not merely to administer the letter of the law ;
and at the same time it should have the result, as in England,
of quickening the public conscience and that of the money-
lenders themselves, which has indeed already been to some
extent awakened by other Government measures, including
the example set by the Government itself as a creditor.

Again the free circulation of metal currency and its
adoption as a medium for all transactions has hitherto been
to the disadvantage of the debtors. Interest on money was
probably little in vogue among pastoral peoples, and was
looked upon with disfavour, being prohibited by both the
Mosaic and Muhammadan codes. The reason was perhaps
that in a pastoral community there existed no means of
making a profit on a loan by which interest could be paid,
and hence the result of usury was that the debtor ultimately
became enslaved to his creditor ; and the enslavement of
freemen on any considerable scale was against the public
interest. With the introduction of agriculture a system of
loans on interest became a necessary and useful part of the
public economy, as a cultivator could borrow grain to sow
land and support himself and his family until the crop
ripened, out of which the loan, principal and interest, could
be repaid. If, as seems likely, this was the first occasion

II CASH COINAGE AND THK RATE OF INTEREST 133

for the introduction of the system of loan-giving on a large
scale, it would follow that the rate of interest would be based
largely on the return yielded by the earth to the seed.
Support is afforded to this conjecture by the fact that in
the case of grain loans in the Central Provinces the interest
on loans of grain of the crops which yield a comparatively
small return, such as wheat, is twenty-five to fifty per cent,
while in the case of those which yield a large return, such as
juari and kodon, it is one hundred per cent. These high
rates of interest were not of much importance so long as the
transaction was in grain. The grain was much less valuable
at harvest than at seed time, and in addition the lender had
the expense of storing and protecting his stock of grain
through the year. It is probable that a rate of twenty-five
per cent on grain loans does not yield more than a reasonable
profit to the lender. But when in recent times cash came
to be substituted for grain it would appear that there was
no proportionate reduction in the interest. The borrower
would lose by having to sell his grain for the payment of
his debt at the most unfavourable rate after harvest, and since
the transaction was by a regular deed the lender no longer
took any share of the risk of a bad harvest, as it is
probable that he was formerly accustomed to do. The rates
of interest for cash loans afforded a disproportionate profit
to the lender, who was put to no substantial expense in
keeping money as he had formerly been in the case of grain.
It is thus probable that rates for cash loans were for a con-
siderable period unduly severe in proportion to the risk, and
involved unmerited loss to the borrower. This is now being
remedied by competition, by Government loans given on a
large scale in time of scarcity, and by the introduction of
co-operative credit. But it has probably contributed to
expedite the transfer of land from the cultivating to the
moneylending classes.

Lastly the grant of proprietary and transferable right to 24. Pro-
land has afforded a new incentive and reward to the success- ^"^ ^^^^^
ful moneylender. Prior to this measure it is probable that ferabie
no considerable transfers of land occurred for ordinary debt. |,^'^d.
The village headman might be ousted for non-payment of
revenue, or simply through the greed of some Government

134 BAN I A PART

official under native rule, and of course the villages were
continually pillaged and plundered by their own and hostile
armies such as the Pindaris, while the population was periodic-
ally decimated by famine. But apart from their losses by
famine, war and the badness of the central government, it is
probable that the cultivators were held to have a hereditary
right to their land, and were not liable to ejectment on the
suit of any private person. It is doubtful whether they had
any conception of ownership of the land, and it seems likely
that they may have thought of it as a god or the property
of the god ; but the cultivating castes perhaps had a
hereditary right to cultivate it, just as the Chamar had a
prescriptive right to the hides of the village cattle, the Kalar
to the mahua-flowers for making his liquor, the Kumhar to
clay for his pots, and the Teli to press the oil-seeds grown in
his village. The inferior castes were not allowed to hold
land, and it was probably never imagined that the village
moneylender should by means of a piece of stamped paper
be able to oust the cultivators indebted to him and take their
land himself. With the grant of proprietary right to land
such as existed in England, and the application of the
English law of contract and transfer of property, a new and
easy road to wealth was opened to the moneylender, of which
he was not slow to take advantage. The Banias have thus
ousted numbers of improvident proprietors of the cultivating
castes, and many of them have become large landlords. A
considerable degree of protection has now been afforded to
landowners and cultivators, and the process has been checked,
but that it should have proceeded so far is regrettable ; and
the operation of the law has been responsible for a large
amount of unintentional injustice to the cultivating castes
and especially to proprietors of aboriginal descent, who on
account of their extreme ignorance and improvidence most
readily fall a prey to the moneylender.

As landlords the Banias were not at first a success.
They did not care to spend money in improving their
property, and ground their tenants to the utmost. Sir R.
Craddock remarks of them : ^ " Great or small they are
absolutely unfitted by their natural instincts to be landlords.

^ Nagpur Settlement Report (1900), para. 54.

II COMMERCIAL //ONE STY 135

Shrewdest of traders, most business-like in the matter of
bargains, they are unable to take a broad view of the duties
of landlord or to see that rack-renting will not pay in the
long run."

Still, under the influence of education, and the growth of
moral feeling, as well as the desire to stand well with Govern-
ment officers and to obtain recognition in the shape of some
honour, many of the Marwari proprietors are developing into
just and progressive landlords. But from the cultivator's
point of view, residence on their estates, which are managed
by agents in charge of a number of villages for an absent
owner, cannot compare with the system of the small cultivat-
ing proprietor resident among tenants of his own caste, and
bound to them by ties of sympathy and caste feeling, which
produces, as described by Sir R. Craddock, the ideal village.

As a trader the Bania formerly had a high standard of 26. Com-
commercial probity. Even though he might show little ho^^esty
kindliness or honesty in dealing with the poorer class of
borrowers, he was respected and absolutely reliable in regard
to money. It was not unusual for people to place their
money in a rich Bania's hands without interest, even paying
him a small sum for safe-keeping. Bankruptcy was con-
sidered disgraceful, and was visited with social penalties little
less severe than those enforced for breaches of caste rules.
There was a firm belief that a merchant's condition in the
next world depended on the discharge of all claims against
him. And the duty of paying ancestral debts was evaded
only in the case of helpless or hopeless poverty. Of late,
partly owing to the waning power of caste and religious
feeling in the matter, and partly to the knowledge of the
bankruptcy laws, the standard of commercial honour has
greatly fallen. Since the case of bankruptcy is governed and
arranged for by law, the trader thinks that so long as he can
keep within the law he has done nothing wrong. A banker,
when heavily involved, seldom scruples to become a bankrupt
and to keep back money enough to enable him to start
afresh, even if he does nothing worse. This, however, is
probably a transitory phase, and the same thing has happened
in England and America at one stage of commercial develop-
ment. In time it may be expected that the loss of the old

136 BAN I A PART

religious and caste feeling will be made good by a new
standard of commercial honour enforced by public opinion
among merchants generally. The Banias are very good to
their own caste, and when a man is ruined will have a
general subscription and provide funds to enable him to start
afresh in a small way. Beggars are very rare in the caste.
Rich Marwaris are extremely generous in their subscriptions
to objects of public utility, but it is said that the small Bania
is not very charitably inclined, though he doles out handfuls
of grain to beggars with fair liberality. But he has a system
by which he exacts from those who deal with him a slight
percentage on the price received by them for religious pur-
poses. This is called Deodan or a gift to God, and is
supposed to go into some public fund for the construction or
maintenance of a temple or similar object. In the absence
of proper supervision or audit it is to be feared that the Bania
inclines to make use of it for his private charity, thus saving
himself expense on that score. The system has been in-
vestigated by Mr. Napier, Commissioner of Jubbulpore,
with a view to the application of these funds to public
improvements.

Bania, Agarwala, Ag-arwal. — This is generally con-
sidered to be the highest and most important subdivision of
the Banias. They numbered about 25,000 persons in the
Central Provinces in 191 1, being principally found in Jub-
bulpore and Nagpur. The name is probably derived from
Agroha, a small town in the Hissar District of the Punjab,
whichwasformerlyof some commercial importance. Buchanan
records that when any firm failed in the city each of the others
contributed a brick and five rupees, which formed a stock
sufficient for the merchant to recommence trade with
advantage. The Agarwalas trace their descent from a Raja
Agar Sen, whose seventeen sons married the seventeen
daughters of Basuki, the king of the Nagas or snakes. Elliot
considers that the snakes were really the Scythian or bar-
barian immigrants, the Yuch-chi or Kushans, from whom
several of the Rajput clans as the Tak, Haihayas and others,
who also have the legend of snake ancestry, were probably
derived. Elliot also remarks that Raja Agar Sen, being a

II aganivAla 137

king, must have been a Kshatriya, and thus according to the
legend the Agarwalas would have Rajput ancestry on both
sides. Their appearance, Mr. Crooke states, indicates good
race and breeding, and would lend colour to the theory of a
Rajput origin. Raja Agar Sen is said to have ruled over
both Agra and Agroha, and it seems possible that the name
of the Agarwalas may also be connected with Agra, which
is a much more important place than Agroha. The country
round Agra and Delhi is their home, and the shrine of the
tutelary goddess of some of the Agarwalas in the Central
Provinces is near Delhi. The memory of the Naga princess
who was their ancestor is still, Sir H. Risley states, held in
honour by the Agarwalas, and they say, * Our mother's house
is of the race of the snake.' ^ No Agarwala, whether Hindu
or Jain, will kill or molest a snake, and the Vaishnava
Agarwalas of Delhi paint pictures of snakes on either side of
the outside doors of their houses, and make offerings of fruit
and flowers before them.

In the Central Provinces, like other Bania subcastes, they
are divided into the Bisa and Dasa or twenty and ten sub-
divisions, which marry among themselves. The Bisa rank
higher than the Dasa, the latter being considered to have
some flaw in their pedigree, such as descent from a remarried
widow. The Dasas are sometimes said to be the descend-
ants of the maidservants who accompanied the seventeen
Naga or snake princesses on their marriages to the sons
of Raja Agar Sen. A third division has now come into
existence in the Central Provinces, known as the Pacha
or fives; these are apparently of still more doubtful origin
than the Dasas. The divisions tend to be endogamous, but
if a man of the Bisa or Dasa cannot obtain a wife from
his own group he will sometimes marry in a lower group.

The Agarwalas are divided into seventeen and a half
gotras or exogamous sections, which are supposed to be
descended from the seventeen sons of Raja Agar Sen. The
extra \\2Xi gotra is accounted for by a legend, but it probably
has in reality also something to do with illegitimate descent.
Some of the gotras, as given by Mr. Crooke, are as a matter
of fact named after Brahmanical saints like those of the

* Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Agarwala.

138 BANIA PART

Brahmans ; instances of these are Garga, Gautama, Kaushika,
Kasyapa and Vasishtha ; the others appear to be territorial
or titular names. The prohibitions on marriage between
relations are far-reaching among the Agarwalas. The de-
tailed rules are given in the article on Bania, and the effect
is that persons descended from a common ancestor cannot
intermarry for five generations. When the wedding pro-
cession is about to start the Kumhar brings his donkey and
the bridegroom has to touch it with his foot, or, according to
one version, ride upon it. The origin of this custom is
obscure, but the people now say that it is meant to emphasise
the fact that the bridegroom is going to do a foolish thing.
The remarriage of widows is prohibited, and divorce is not
recognised. Most of the Agarwalas are Vaishnava by reli-
gion, but a few are Jains. Intermarriage between members
of the two religions is permitted in some localities, and the
wife adopts that of her husband. The Jain Agarwalas
observe the Hindu festivals and employ Brahmans for their
ceremonies. In Nimar the caste have some curious taboos.
It is said that a married woman may not eat wheat until a
child has been born to her, but only juari ; and if she has
no child she may not eat wheat all her life. If a son is born
to her she must go to Mahaur, a village near Delhi where
the tutelary goddess of the caste has her shrine. This
goddess is called Mohna Devi, and she is the deified spirit of
a woman who burnt herself with her husband. After this
the woman may eat wheat ; but if a second son is born she
must stop eating wheat until she has been to the shrine again.
But if she has a daughter she may at once and always eat
wheat without visiting the shrine. These rules, as well as
the veneration of a snake, from which they believe themselves
to be descended on the mother's side, may perhaps, as
suggested by Sir H. Risley, be a relic of the system of
matriarchal descent. It is said that when Raja Agar Sen or
his sons married the Naga princesses, he obtained permission
as a special favour from the goddess Lakshmi that the
children should bear their father's name and not their
mother's.^

In Nimar some Agarwalas worship Goba Pir, the god of
' Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Agarwala.

II ACRAIIARI 139

the sweepers. He is represented by a pole some 30 feet
long on which are hung a cloth and cocoanuts. The
sweepers carry this through the city almost daily during
the month of Shrawan (July), and people offer cocoanuts,
tying them on to the pole. Some Agarwalas offer vermilion
to the god in token of worship, and a {q\v invite it to the
compounds of their houses and keep it there all night for
the same purpose. When a feast is given in the caste
the Agarwalas do not take their own brass vessels accord-
ing to the usual practice, but the host gives them little
earthen pots to drink from which are afterwards broken,
and leaf-plates for their food. The Agarwalas will take
food cooked without water {j)akki) from Oswal, Maheshri
and Khandelwal Banias. The Agarwalas of the Central
Provinces hold some substantial estates in Chhattlsgarh ;
these were obtained at the first settlements during 1860-70,
when considerable depression existed, and many of the
village headmen were unwilling to accept the revenue
assessed on their villages. The more enterprising Banias
stepped in and took them, and have profited enormously
owing to the increase in the value of land. Akbar's great
minister, Todar Mai, who first introduced an assessment of
the land-revenue based on the measurement and survey of
the land, is said to have been an Agarwala.

Bania, Ag^rahari.^^ — This subcaste numbered nearly 2000
persons in 191 1, resident principally in Jubbulpore, Raipur
and Bilaspur, and some of the Feudatory States. Mr.
Crooke states that they claim partly a Vaishya and partly
a Brahmanical descent, and wear the sacred thread. Like
that of the Agarwala Banias their name has been con-
nected with the cities of Agra and Agroha. There is
no doubt that they are closely connected with the Agar-
walas, and Mr. Nesfield suggests that the two groups must
have been sections of one and the same caste which
quarrelled on some trifling matter connected with cooking
or eating, and have remained separate ever since. The
Agrahari Banias are Hindus, and some of them belong to

' The information on this subcaste is taken from Mr. Crooke's article on it
in his Tribes and Castes.

140 BANIA PART

the Nanakpanthi sect. They are principally dealers in
provisions, and they have acquired some discredit as com-
pared with their kinsfolk the Agarvvalas, through not
secluding their women and allowing them to attend the
shop. They also retail various sweet-smelling woods which
are used in religious ceremonies, such as aloe -wood and
sandalwood, besides a number of medicines and simples.
The richer members of the caste are bankers, dealers in
grain and pawnbrokers.

Bania, AjudhiaMsi, Audhia. — A subcaste of Bania,
whose name signifies a resident of Ajodhia, the old name
of Oudh. Outsiders often shorten the name to Audhia, but,
as will be seen, the name Audhia is regularly applied to
a criminal class, who may have been derived from the
Ajudhiabasi Banias, but are now quite distinct from them.
The Ajudhiabasis numbered nearly 2000 persons in 191 i,
belonging chiefly to the Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and
Hoshangabad Districts. This total includes any persons
who may have returned themselves as Audhia. The
Ajudhiabasis are nearly all Hindus with a small Jain
minority. Though Oudh was their original home they
are now fairly numerous in Cawnpore and Bundelkhand
as well, and it may have been from this last locality that
they entered the Central Provinces. Here they form a
separate endogamous group and do not marry with their
caste -fellows in northern India. They have exogamous
sections, and marriage is prohibited within the section and
also between first cousins. They permit the remarriage
of widows, but are said not to recognise divorce, and to
expel from the caste a woman guilty of adultery. It may
be doubted, however, whether this is correct. Brahmans
serve as their priests, and they invest boys with the sacred
thread either at marriage or at a special ceremony known
as Gurmukh. The dead arc either buried or burnt ; in
the case of burial men are laid on the face and women
on the back, the body being first rubbed with salt, clarified
butter, turmeric and milk. A little earth from the grave
is carried away and thrown into a sacred river, and when
the dead arc burnt the ashes are similarly disposed of.

n AJUDIIIABASl 141

Their principal deity is the goddess Devi, and at the
Dasahra festival they offer a goat to her, the flesh of
which is distributed among members of the caste.

The Audhias are a well-known criminal tribe, whose
headquarters is in the Fatehpur District. They say
that they are Banias, and use the name Ajudhiabasi in
speaking of themselves, and from their customs and criminal
methods it seems not unlikely that they may originally
have been an offshoot from the Ajudhiabasi Banias. They
are now, however, perfectly distinct from this group, and
any confusion between them would be very unjust to the
latter. In northern India it is said that the Audhias deal
largely in counterfeit coin and false jewellery, and never
commit crimes of violence ; ^ but in Bombay they have
taken to housebreaking, though they usually select an
empty house.^ From their homes in the United Provinces
they wander over Central India, the Central Provinces,
Bengal and Bombay ; they are said to avoid the Punjab
and Sind owing to difficulties of working, and they
have made it a caste offence to commit any crime in the
Ganges-Jumna Doab, probably because this is their home.
It is said also that if any one of them is imprisoned he
is put out of caste. They wander about disguised as
religious mendicants, Brahmans or Bairagis. They carry
their bedding tied on their back with a cloth, and a large
bag slung over the shoulders which contains food, cooking-
vessels and other articles. Sometimes they pretend to be
Banias and hawk about sweets and groceries, or one
of the gang opens a shop, which serves as a rendezvous
and centre for collecting information.^ In the Districts
where they reside they are perfectly well-behaved. They
are well-to-do and to all appearance respectable in their
habits. Their women are well-dressed with plenty of orna-
ments on their persons. They have no apparent means
of support ; they neither cultivate land nor trade ; and
all that appears on the surface is that most of the men
and boys go off after the rains and return at the end of

1 Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, Bombaji Presidency, art. Audhia.
art. Audhia. 3 Kennedy, ibidem.

•^ Kennedy's Criminal Classes of the

142 BANIA PART

the cold weather. If asked how they support themselves
they reply by begging. Their marriage rules are those of
high -caste Hindus. They are divided into two classes,
Unch or high and Nich or low, the former being of pure
blood, and the latter the descendants of kept women.
These are practically endogamous. A man may not have
more than two wives. If a girl is detected in immorality
before marriage, she is permanently excommunicated, and
a married woman can be turned out by her husband
on proof of adultery. A bridegroom-price is usually paid,
the father of the bride visiting the bridegroom and giving
him the money in secret. The dead are burnt, and Brahmans
are duly fed. If a man has died through an accident
or from cholera, smallpox, poison or leprosy, the corpse, if
available, is at once consigned to the Ganges or other
river, and during the course of the next twelve months a
Mahabrahman is paid to make an image of the deceased
in gram-flour, which is cremated with the usual rites. As
in the case of the Ajudhiabasi Banias, the tribal deity of
the Audhias is the goddess Devi.^

Bania, Asathi. — This subcaste numbers about 2500
persons in the Central Provinces, belonging principally to
the Damoh and Jubbulpore Districts. They say that their
original home was the Tikamgarh State in Bundelkhand.
They do not rank very high, and are sometimes said to be
the descendants of an Ahir who became a Bania. The
great bulk are Hindus and a small minority Jains. It is
told of the Asathis that they first bury their dead, in accord-
ance presumably with a former practice, and then exhume
and burn the bodies ; and there is a saying —

Ardha jale, ardha gave
Ji7ika 7iain Asathi parc^

or, ' He who is an Asathi is half buried and half burnt.*
But this practice, if it ever really existed, has now been
abandoned.

Bania, Charnag-ri, Channag-ri, Samaiya. — The Char-
nagris are a small Jain subcaste which numbered about 2500

1 Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Audhia.

u ASATHl 143

persons in 191 i, residing princiimlly in the Damoh and
Chhlndwara Districts. They are the followers of one Taran
Svvami, who is said to have lived about five centuries aL^^o.
He preached against the worship of the images of the Jain
Tirthakars, and said that this should be abandoned and only
the sacred books be revered. The chief sacred place of the
sect is Malhargarh in Gwalior State ; here the tomb of their
prophet is situated and there is also a large temple in
which the Jain scriptures are enshrined. In the month of
Phagun (February) a fair is held here, and Charnagris dance
in the temples, holding lighted lamps in their hands.
Nowadays the Charnagris also visit the ordinary Jain
temples when their own are not available. They are
practically all derived from Parwar Banias, and formerly
would sometimes give their daughters to Parwars in marriage,
but this practice is said to have stopped. Like other
Bania subcastes, they are divided into Bisa and Dasa, or
twenty and ten sections, the Dasa being of irregular descent.
Intermarriage between the two sections occasionally occurs,
and the Dasa will take food from the Bisa section, but the
latter do not reciprocate except at caste feasts.

Bania, Dhusar, Bhargfava Dhusar. — The origin of this
group is much disputed. They are usually classed as a
subcaste of Bania, but claim to be Brahmans. They take
their name from a hill called Dhusi or Dhosi, near Narnaul
on the border of Alwar State. The title Bhargava signifies a
descendant of Bhrigu, one of the famous eponymous Rishis
or Brahmanical saints, to whom Manu confided his institutes,
calling him his son. If this was their original name, it
would show that they were Brahmans, but its adoption
appears to be somewhat recent. Their claim to be
Brahmans is, however, admitted by many members of that
caste, and it is stated that they perform the functions of
Brahmans in their original home in Rajputana. Mr. Burn
wrote of them : ^ "In his book on castes published in 1872
Mr. Sherring does not refer to any claim to kinship wnth
Brahmans, though in his description of Dhusar Banias he
appears to include the people under consideration. Both

1 United Provinces Census Report (1901), p. 220.

144 BANIA PART

the Dhusar Bhargavas and Dhusar Banias assert that Himu,
the capable Vazir of Muhammad Shah Suri, belonged to
their community, and such a claim by the former is if
anything in favour of the view that they are not Brahmans,
since Himu is variously described by Muhammadan writers
as a corn-chandler, a weighman and a Bania. Colonel Dow
in his history of Hindustan calls him a shopkeeper who was
raised by Sher Shah to be Superintendent of Markets. It
is not improbable that Himu's success laid the foundation
for a claim to a higher position, but the matter does not
admit of absolute proof, and I have therefore accepted the
decision of the majority of the caste - committees and
considered them as a caste allied to Brahmans." In the
Punjab the Dhusars appear to be in some places Brahmans
and in others Banias. " They take their food before
morning prayer, contrary to the Hindu rule, but of late
years they have begun to conform to the orthodox practice.
The Brahman Dhusar marries with his caste-fellows and the
Bania with Banias, avoiding always the same family {gotrd)
or one having the same family deity." ^ From the above
accounts it would appear that the Dhusars may have
originally been a class of Brahmans who took to trade, like
the Palliwal Brahmans of Marv/ar, and have lost their
position as Brahmans and become amalgamated with the
Bania caste ; or they may have been Banias, who acted as
priests to others of the community, and hence claimed to be
Brahmans. The caste is important and influential, and is
now making every effort to recover or substantiate its
Brahman status. One writer states that they combine the
office aptitude and hard-heartedness to a debtor characteristic
of the Bania. The Dhusars are rigid in the maintenance of
the purity of their order and in the performance of Hindu
ceremonies and duties, and neither eat meat nor drink any
kind of spirit. In Delhi they were distinguished for their
talent as singers, and cultivated a peculiar strain or measure,
in which they were unsurpassed.^ In the Central Provinces
the Dhusars are a flourishing body, their leaders being Rai
Bahadur Bihari Lai Khizanchi of Jubbulpore and Rai Sahib

• Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, article Dhusar.
ii. p. 473, quoted in Mr. Crooke's ^ Sherring, FIi7idH Castes, i. p. 293.

II DOSAR 145

Seth Sundar Lfil of Betul. They have founded the
Bhfirgava bank of Jubbulporc, and shown considerable public
spirit ; to the latter gentleman's generosity a large part of
the success of the recent debt-conciliation proceedings in the
Betul District must be attributed.

Bania, Dosar, Dusra.^ — This subcaste numbers about
600 persons. The original name is Dusra or second, and the
Dosar or Dusra are a section of the Ummar Banias, who were
so called because they permit widows to make a second
marriage. Their home is the Ganges -Jumna Doab and
Oudh, and in the United Provinces they are classed as an
inferior subcaste of the Ummars. Here they say that the
Ummars are their elder brothers. In the Central Provinces
they are said to be forming three local endogamous groups
according as their homes were in the Doab, Oudh or the
Allahabad country ; and members of each of these marry
among themselves. The Dosars say that they all belong to
the Kashyap " gotra or clan, but for the purpose of marriage
they have territorial or titular exogamous sections ; instances
of these are Gangapari, a native of Oudh ; Sagarah, a resident
of Saugor ; Makraha, a seller of makka or maize, and
Tamakhuha, a tobacco -seller. They pay a bridegroom-
price, the full recognised amount of which is Rs. 211, either
in cash or brass cooking-vessels. Those who cannot afford
this sum give half of it or Rs. 105, and the poorest classes
pay anything they can afford. The Dosars are Vaishnava
Hindus and employ Sanadhya Brahmans as their priests.
These Brahmans will take food without water from their
clients, but they are an inferior class and are looked down
upon by other Brahmans. The caste are mainly shop-
keepers, and they deal in gold and silver ornaments, as well
as grain, tobacco and all kinds of groceries.

Bania, Gahoi.^ — This Hindu subcaste numbered nearly
7000 persons in 191 1, belonging principally to the Saugor,

^ This account is based on a paper but the name is perhaps derived from

furnished by Mr. Jeorakhan Lai, Kachhap, a tortoise.

Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilas- ^ This article is mainly based on a

pur. paper by ]\Ir. Pancham Lai, Naib-

- Kashyap was a Brahman saint, Tahsildar Sihora.

VOL. II L

146 BAN I A PART

Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. Their home is the
Bundelkhand country, which these Districts adjoin, and they
say that their original headquarters was at Kharagpur in
Bundelkhand, whence they have spread over the surrounding
country. They tell a curious story of their origin to the effect
that once upon a time there was a certain schoolmaster, one
Biya Pande Brahman, who could foretell the future. One
day he was in his school with his boys when he foresaw that
there was about to be an earthquake. He immediately
warned his boys to get out of the building, and himself led
the way. Only twelve of the boys had followed, and the
others were still hesitating, when the earthquake began, the
school fell in, and they were all buried in the ruins. The
schoolmaster formed the boys who had escaped into one
caste, calling them Gahoi, which is supposed to mean that
which is left or the residue ; and he determined that he and
his descendants would be the priests of the new caste. At
the weddings of the Gahois an image of the schoolmaster is
painted on the house wall, and the bridegroom worships it with
offerings of butter and flowers. The story indicates clearly
that the Gahois are of mixed descent from several castes.

The subcaste has twelve gotras or sections, and seventy-
two al or dnken, which are subsections of the gotras. Several
of the al names appear to be of a titular or totemistic
character, as Mor peacock, Sohania beautiful, Nagaria a
drummer, Paharia a hillman, Matele the name of a village
headman in Bundelkhand, Piparvania from the plpal tree,
Dadaria a singer. The rule of exogamy is said to be that a
man must not marry in his own gotra nor in the al of his
mother or either grandmother.^ Their weddings are held
only at the bride's house, no ceremonies being performed at
the bridegroom's ; at the ceremony the bridegroom stands
in the centre of the shed by the marriage-post and the bride
walks seven times round him. At their weddings the
Gahois still use the old rupees of the Nagpur kingdom
for presents and payments to menials, and they hoard them
up, when they can get them, for this special purpose. The
rupee is sacred with the Bania, and this is an instance of
the preservation of old accessories for religious ceremonies

1 Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Gahoi.

II COLAPURAB 147

when they have been superseded in ordinary use. Polygamy
is permitted, but is rare. The Gahois employ Bhargava
Brahmans for their priests, and these are presumably the
descendants of the schoolmaster who founded the caste.
At the thirteenth-day feast after a death the Brahmans
must be fed first before the members of the caste. On this
occasion thirteen brass or earthen vessels arc filled with
flour, and a piece of money, and presented to thirteen
Brahmans, while the family priest receives a bed and piece
of cloth. The priests are said to be greedy, and to raise
quarrels over the value of the presents given to them. At
the Diwali festival the Gahois worship the implements of
their trade, pen and ink, and their account-books. The
Gahois are Vaishnava Hindus, and abstain from all flesh
and alcoholic liquor. They trade in grain and groceries,
and are bankers and moneylenders. They are considered
to be cunning in business, and a proverb says that a Gahoi
will deceive even his own father.

Bania, Golapiirab, Golahre. — This Jain subcaste num-
bers about 6000 persons in the Central Provinces, and
belongs mainly to the Saugor, Damoh and Narsinghpur
Districts. Its distribution is nearly the same as that of the
Gahois, and it is probably also a Bundelkhand group. The
Golapurabs are practically all Digambari Jains with a small
Hindu minority. In some localities they intermarry with
Parwar Banias who are also Digambari Jains ; and they will
take food cooked without water from the Nema subcaste who
are Hindus. According to one story the Golapurabs were
the offspring of a Purabia, that is probably a Bais Rajput, by
a kept woman of the Ahlr caste. This fits in very well with
the name, as Golak means a bastard, and the termination
purab would be from Purabia ; but it is probably the name
which has given rise to the story, or at any rate to the sup-
posed descent from a Purabia. In the United Provinces a
small subcaste of Bania called Golahre exists, belonging to
the Jhansi District, that is the country of the Golapurabs,
and Jain by religion. There is no doubt that this group is
the same as the Golapurabs, and Mr. Crooke derives ^ the

' Tribes and Castes, art. Golahre.

148 BAN I A PART

name from gola^ a grain-mart, which seems more probable than
the derivation suggested above. But it is an interesting fact
that there is also a caste of cultivators called Golapurab in
the United Provinces, found only in the Agra District. It is
suggested that these people are the illegitimate offspring of
Sanadhya Brahmans, with whom they appear to be closely
connected. From their sept-names, however, which include
those of several Rajput clans and also some titular terms of
a low-caste type, Mr. Crooke thinks their Brahmanical origin
improbable. It is noticeable that these Golapurabs though
a cultivating caste have, like the Banias, a subcaste called
Dasa, comprising persons of irregular descent ; they also
prohibit the remarriage of widows, and abstain from all flesh
and from onions and garlic. Such customs are peculiar in a
cultivating caste, and resemble those of Banias. It seems
possible that a detailed investigation might give ground for
supposing that both the Golahre and Golapurab subcastes
of Banias in the United and Central Provinces respectively
are connected with this cultivating caste of Golapurabs.
The latter might have abandoned the Jain religion on
taking to cultivation, as a Jain cannot well drive the
plough, which involves destruction of animal life ; or the
Bania section might have adopted Jainism in order to
obtain a better social position and differentiate themselves
from the cultivators. Unfortunately no detailed information
about the Golapurabs of the Central Provinces is available,
from which the probability or otherwise of this hypothesis
could be tested.

Bania, Kasarwani.^ — This Hindu subcaste numbers about
6500 persons in the Central Provinces, who belong mainly
to Saugor, Jubbulpore and the three Chhattlsgarh Districts.
The name is probably derived from kdnsa, bell-metal, as
these Banias retail brass and bell - metal vessels. The
Kasarwanis may therefore not improbably be an occupational
group formed from persons who engaged in the trade, and in
that case they may be wholly or partly derived from the
Kasars and Tameras, the castes which work in brass, copper

' The above notice is partly based on a paper by Mr. Sant Prasad, school-
master, Nandgaon.

II KASAUNDIIAN 149

and bell-metal. The Kasarvvanis are numerous in Allahabad
and Mirzapur, and they may have come to Chhattlsgarh
from Mirzapur, attracted by the bell-metal industries in
Ratanpur and Drug. In Saugor and also in the United
Provinces they say that they came from Kara Manikpur
several generations ago. If the selling of metal vessels was
their original calling, many, or the majority of them, have
now abandoned it, and deal in grain and groceries, and lend
money like other Banias. The Kasarwanis do not observe
the same standard of strictness as the good Bania subcastes
in their social rules. They eat the flesh of goats, sheep,
birds and fish, though they abstain from liquor. They
permit the remarriage of widows and divorce ; and women
who have been divorced can marry again in the caste by the
same rite as widows. They also allow the exchange of girls
in marriage between two families. They do not as a rule
wear the sacred thread. Their priests are Sarwaria Brahmans,
and these Brahmans and a few Bania subcastes, such as the
Agarwalas, Umres and Gahois, can take food cooked
without water from them, but other Brahmans and Rajputs
will not take any kind of food. Matches are arranged in
the presence of the head of the caste panchdyat, who is known
as Chaudhri. The parents on each side give their consent,
and in pledge of it six pice (farthings) are taken from both
of them, mixed together and given to their family priests
and barbers, four pice to the priests and two to the barbers.
The following is a local derivation of the name ; the word
kasar means more or the increase, and bJiata means less ;
and Hamdra kya kasar hhata ? means ' How does my
account stand ? ' Hence Kasarbani is one who keeps
accounts, that is a Bania.

Bania, Kasaundhan. — This subcaste numbers about 5500
persons in the Central Provinces and is returned principally
from the Bilaspur, Raipur and Jubbulpore Districts. The
name is derived ^ by Mr. Crooke from kdnsa, bell-metal, and
dkana, wealth, and it would appear that the Kasaundhans
like the Kasarwanis are an occupational group, made up of
shopkeepers who dealt in metal vessels. Like them also the

^ Tribes and Castes, art. Kasaundhan.

150 BANIA PART

Kasaundhans may have originally been constituted from the
metal-working castes, and indeed they may be only a local
branch of the Kasarwanis, though no information is available
which would decide this point. In the United Provinces
both the Kasarwanis and Kasaundhans are divided into the
Purbia or eastern and Pachhaiyan or western subcastes.
Dharam Das, the great disciple of Kablr, who founded the
Kablrpanthi sect in the Central Provinces, was a Kasaundhan
Bania, and the Kablrpanthi Mahants or high-priests of
Kawardha are of this caste. It is probable that a good
many of the Kasaundhan Banias in Bilaspur and Raipur
belong to the Kablrpanthi sect. The remainder are ordinary
Hindus.

Bania, Khandelwal. — Thissubcaste numbers about i 500
persons in the Central Provinces ; they are most numerous
in the Hoshangabad and Amraoti Districts, but are scattered
all over the Province. They take their name from the town
of Khandela in the Jaipur State of Rajputana, which was
formerly the capital of the Shekhawati federation. There is
also a Khandelwal subcaste of the Brahman caste, found in
the United Provinces.^ Mr. Bhattacharya says of them : ^
" The Khandelwal Banias are not inferior to any other division
of the caste either in wealth or refinement. There are both
Vaishnavites and Jains among them, and the Vaishnavite
Khandelwals wear the sacred thread. The millionaire Seths
of Mathura are Khandelwal Banias."

Bania, Lad. — This subcaste numbers about 5000 persons
in the Central Provinces, being settled in Nimar, Nagpur and
all the Berar Districts. The Lad Banias came from Gujarat,
and Lad is derived from Lat-desh, the old name for Gujarat.
Like other Banias they are divided into the Bisa and Dasa
groups or twenties and tens, the Dasa being of irregular
descent. Their family priests are Khedavval Brahmans, and
their caste deity is Ashapuri of Ashnai, near Petlad. Lad
women, especially those of Baroda, are noted for their taste
in dress. The Lad Banias are Hindus of the Vallabhacharya

^ Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Khandelwal.
2 Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 209.

II LING Ay AT 151

sect, who worship Krishna, and were formerly addicted to
sexual indulgence/

Bania, Ling"ayat. — The Lingayat Banias number nearly
8000 persons in the Central Provinces, being numerous in
Wardha, Nagpur and all the Berar Districts. A brief account
of the Lingayat sect has been given in a separate article.
The Lingayat Banias form a separate endogamous group,
and they do not eat or intermarry either with other Banias
or with members of other castes belonging to the Lingayat
sect. But they retain the name and occupation of Banias.
They have five subdivisions, Pancham, Dikshawant, Chilli-
want, Takalkar and Kanade. The Pancham or Pancham-
salis are the descendants of the original Brahman converts
to the Lingayat sect. They are the main body of the
community and are initiated by what is known as the eight-
fold sacrament or esJita-varna. The Dikshawant, from diksha
or initiation, are a subdivision of the Panchamsalis, who
apparently initiate disciples like the Dikshit Brahmans.
The Takalkar are said to take their name from a forest
called Takali, where their first ancestress bore a child to
the god Siva. The Kanade are from Canara. The mean-
ing of the term Chilliwant is not known ; it is said that a
member of this subcaste will throw away his food or water
if it is seen by any one who is not a Lingayat, and they
shave the whole head. The above form endogamous sub-
castes. The Lingayat Banias also have exogamous groups,
the names of which are mainly titular, of a low-caste type.
Instances of them are Kaode, from kawa a crow, Teli an
oil-seller, Thubri a dwarf, Ubadkar an incendiary, Gudkari
a sugar-seller and Dhamankar from Dhamangaon. They
say that the maths or exogamous groups are no longer
regarded, and that marriage is now prohibited between
persons having the same surname. It is stated that if a
girl is not married before adolescence she is finally expelled
from the caste, but this rule has probably become obsolete.
The proposal for marriage comes from either the boy's or
girl's party, and sometimes the bridegroom receives a small
sum for his travelling expenses, while at other times a bride-
1 See article Bairagi for some notice of the sect.

152 BANIA PART

price is paid. At the wedding, rice coloured red is put in
the hands of the bridegroom and juari coloured yellow in
those of the bride. The bridegroom places the rice on the
bride's head and she lays the juari at his feet. A dish full
of water with a golden ring in it is put between them, and
they lay their hands on the ring together under the water
and walk five times round a decorative little marriage-shed
erected inside the real one. A feast is given, and the bridal
couple sit on a little dais and eat out of the same dish.
The remarriage of widows is permitted, but the widow may
not marry a man belonging to the section either of her
first husband or of her father. Divorce is recognised. The
Lingayats bury the dead in a sitting posture with the lingam
or emblem of Siva, which has never left the dead man during
his lifetime, clasped in his right hand. Sometimes a platform
is made over the grave with an image of Siva. They do
not shave the head in token of mourning. Their principal
festival is Shivratri or Siva's night, when they offer the
leaves of the bel tree and ashes to the god. A Lingayat
must never be without the lingam or phallic sign of Siva,
which is carried slung round the neck in a little case of
silver, copper or brass. If he loses it, he must not eat,
drink nor smoke until he finds it or obtains another. The
Lingayats do not employ Brahmans for any purpose, but are
served by their own priests, the Jangams,^ who are recruited
both by descent and by initiation from members of the
Pancham group. The Lingayat Banias are practically all
immigrants from the Telugu country ; they have Telugu
names and speak this language in their homes. They deal
in grain, cloth, groceries and spices.

Bania, Maheshri. — This important subcaste of Banias
numbered about 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in
191 1, of whom 8000 belonged to the Berar Districts, and the
remainder principally to Hoshangabad, Nimar, Wardha and
Nagpur. The name is said to be derived from Maheshwar,
an ancient town on the Nerbudda, near Indore, and one of
the earliest Rajput settlements. But some of them say
that their original home is in Bikanir, and tell a story to
1 See separate article on Jangam.

II MAIIESHRI 153

the effect that their ancestor was a Raja who was turned
into stone with his seventy-two followers by some ascetics
whose devotions they had interrupted in the forest. But
when their wives came to commit sati by the stone figures
the god Siva intervened and brought them to life again.
He told them to give up the profession of arms and take
to trade. So the seventy-two followers were the ancestors
of the seventy-two gotras or sections of the Maheshris, and
the Raja became their tribal Blidt or genealogist, and they
were called Maheshri or Maheswari, from Mahesh, a name of
Siva. In Gujarat the term Maheshri or Meshri appears to
be used for all Banias who are not Jains, including the
other important Hindu subcastes.^ This is somewhat peculiar,
and perhaps tends to show that several of the local subcastes
are of recent formation. But though they profess to be
named after Siva, the Maheshris, like practically all other
Hindu Banias, are Vaishnava by sect, and wear the kiniti or
necklace of beads of basil. A small minority are Jains.
It is to be noticed that both the place of their origin, an
early Rajput settlement of the Yadava clan, and their own
legend tend to show that they were derived from the Rajput
caste ; for as their ancestors were attendants on a Raja and
followed the profession of arms, which they were told to
abandon, they could be none other than Rajpiits. The
Maheshris also have the Rajput custom of sending a cocoa-
nut as a symbol of a proposal of marriage. In Nimar the
Maheshri Banias say they belong to the Dhakar subcaste,
a name which usually means illegitimate, though they
themselves explain that it is derived from a place called
Dhakargarh, from which they migrated. As already stated
they are divided into seventy-two exogamous clans, the
names of which appear to be titular or territorial. It is
said that at their weddings when the bridegroom gets to the
door of the marriage-shed, the bride's mother ties a scarf
round his neck and takes hold of his nose and drags him
into the shed. Sometimes they make the bridegroom kneel
down and pay reverence to a shoe as a joke. They do not
observe the custom of the pangat or formal festal assembly,
which is usual among Hindu castes ; according to this, none

^ Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 70.

154 BAN I A ' PART

can begin to eat until all the guests have assembled, when
they all sit down at once. Among the Maheshris the guests
sit down as they come in, and are served and take their food
and go. They only have the pajtgat feast on very rare
occasions. The Maheshris are one of the richest, most
enterprising and influential classes of Banias. They are
intelligent, of high-bred appearance, cleanly habits and
courteous manners. The great bankers, Sir Kasturchand
Daga of Kamptee, of the firm of Bansi Lai Ablrchand, and
Rai Bahadur Seth Jiwan Das and Diwan Bahadur Seth
Ballabh Das, of Jubbulpore, belong to this subcaste.

Bania, Nema. — This subcaste numbers nearly 4000
persons, the bulk of whom reside in the Saugor, Damoh,
Narsinghpur and Seoni Districts. The Nemas are most largely
returned from Central India, and are probably a Bundelkhand
group ; they will eat food cooked without water with Gola-
purab Banias, who are also found in Bundelkhand. They are
mainly Hindus, with a small minority of Jains. The origin
of the name is obscure ; the suggestion that it comes from
Nimar appears to be untenable, as there are very few Nemas
in that District. They say that when Parasurama was
slaying the Kshatriyas fourteen young Rajput princes, who
at the time were studying religion with their family priests,
were saved by the latter on renouncing their Kshatriya status
and declaring themselves to be Vaishyas. These fourteen
princes were the ancestors of the fourteen gotras of the
Nema subcaste, but the gotras actually bear the names of
the fourteen Rishis or saints who saved their lives. These
sections appear to be of the usual Brahmanical type, but
marriage is regulated by another set of fifty-two subsections,
with names which are apparently titular or territorial. Like
other Bania groups the Nemas are divided into Bisa and
Dasa subdivisions or twenties and tens, the Bisa being of
pure and the Dasa of irregular descent. There is also a
third group of Pacha or fives, who appear to be the offspring
of kept women. After some generations, when the details
of their ancestry are forgotten, the Pachas probably obtain
promotion into the Dasa group. The Bisa and Dasa groups
take food together, but do not intermarry. The Nemas wear

II oswal 155

the sacred thread and apparently prohibit the remarriage of
widows. The Nemas are considered to be very keen busi-
ness men, and a saying about them is, " Where a sheep
grazes or a Nema trades, what is there left for anybody
else ? "

Bania, Oswal. — This is perhaps the most important sub-
division of the Banias after the Agarwala. The Oswals
numbered nearly 10,000 persons in the Central Provinces in
191 I, being found in considerable numbers in all the Berar
Districts, and also in Nimar, Wardha and Raipur. The
name is derived from the town of Osia or Osnagar in
Marwar. According to one legend of their origin the Raja
of Osnagar had no son, and obtained one through the
promise of a Jain ascetic. The people then drove the
ascetic from the town, fearing that the Raja would become
a Jain ; but Osadev, the guardian goddess of the place, told
the ascetic, Sri Ratan Suri, to convert the Raja by a miracle.
So she took a small hank {pilni) of cotton and passed it
along the back of the saint, when it immediately became a
snake and bit Jaichand, the son of the Raja, in the toe, while
he was asleep beside his wife. Every means was tried to
save his life, but he died. As his corpse was about to be
burnt, the ascetic sent one of his disciples and stopped the
cremation. Then the Raja came with the body of his son
and stood with hands clasped before the saint. He ordered
that it was to be taken back to the place where the prince
had been bitten, and that the princess was to lie down beside
it as before. At midnight the snake returned and licked
the bite, when the prince was restored to life. Then the
Raja, with all his Court and people, became a Jain. He and
his family founded the gotra or section now known as Sri
Srimal or most noble ; his servants formed that known as
Srimal or excellent, while the other Rajputs of the town
became ordinary Oswals. When the Brahmans of the place
heard of these conversions they asked the saint how they
were to live, as all their clients had become Jains. The
saint directed that they should continue to be the family
priests of the Oswals and be known as Bhojak or ' eaters.'
Thus the Oswals, though Jains, continue to employ Marwari

156 BANIA PART

Brahmans as their family priests. Another version of the
story is that the king of Srimali ^ allowed no one who was
not a millionaire to live within his city walls. In conse-
quence of this a large number of persons left Srimal, and,
settling in Mandovad, called it Osa or the frontier. Among
them were Srimali Banias and also Bhatti, Chauhan, Gahlot,
Gaur, Yadava, and several other clans of Rajputs, and these
were the people who were subsequently converted by the
Jain ascetic, Sri Ratan Suri, and formed into the single caste
of Oswal.^ Finally, Colonel Tod states that the Oswals
are all of pure Rajput descent, of no single tribe, but chiefly
Panwars, Solankis and Bhattis.^ From these legends and the
fact that their headquarters are in Rajputana, it may safely
be concluded that the Oswal Banias are of Rajput origin.

The large majority of the Oswals are Jain by religion,
but a few are Vaishnava Hindus. Intermarriage between
the Hindu and Jain sections is permitted. Like the
Agarwalas, the Oswals are divided into Bisa, Dasa and
Pacha sections or twenties, tens and fives, according to the
purity of their lineage. The Pacha subcaste still permit
the remarriage of widows. The three groups take food
together but do not intermarry. In Bombay, Dasa Oswals
intermarry with the Dasa groups of Srimali and Parwar
Banias,'* and Oswals generally can marry with other good
Bania subcastes so long as both parties are Jains. The
Oswals are divided into eighty-four goiras or exogamous
sections for purposes of marriage, a list of which is given by
Mr. Crooke.^ Most of these cannot be recognised, but a few
of them seem to be titular, as Lorha a caste which grows
hemp, Nunia a salt-refiner, Seth a banker, Daftari an office-
boy, Vaid a physician, Bhandari a cook, and Kukara a dog.
These may indicate a certain amount of admixture of foreign
elements in the caste. As stated from Benares, the
exogamous rule is that a man cannot marry in his own
section, and he cannot marry a girl whose father's or
mother's section is the same as that of either his father or
mother. This would bar the marriage of first cousins.

^ A town near Jhalor in Marwar, ^ Rajasihdti, ii. p. 210, footnote,

now called Bhinmal. ^ Hindus of Gujarat, loc. cit.^ and

2 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindtis of Bombay Gazetteer, xvi. 45.
Gujarat, p. 97. ^ Tribes and Castes, art. Oswal.

II PARIVAR 157

Though Jains the Osvvfils perform their weddings by
walking round the sacred fire and observe certain Hindu
rites, including the worship of the god Ganpati.^ They
also revere other Hindu deities and the sun and moon. The
dead are burnt, but they do not observe any impurity after a
death nor clean the house. On the day after the death the
mourning family, both men and women, visit Parasnath's
temple, and lay one seer (2 lbs.) of Indian millet before the
god, bow to him and go home. They do not gather the
ashes of the dead nor keep the yearly death-day. Their
only observance is that on some day between the twelfth
day after a death and the end of a year, the caste-people
are treated to a dinner of sweetmeats and the dead ' are
then forgotten.' ^ The Oswals will take food cooked with
water {katchi) only from Brahmans, and that cooked without
water {pakki) from Agarwala and Maheshri Banias. In the
Central Provinces the principal deity of the Oswals is the
Jain Tirthakar Parasnath, and they spend large sums in the
erection of splendid temples. The Oswals are the most
prominent trading caste in Rajputana ; and they have also
frequently held high offices, such as Diwan or minister, and
paymaster in Rajput States.^

Bania, Parwar.'* — This Jain subcaste numbered nearly
29,000 persons in 191 1. They belong almost entirely to
the Jubbulpore and Nerbudda Divisions, and the great bulk
are found in the Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore Districts.
The origin of the Parwars and of their name is not known,
but there is some reason to suppose that they are from
Rajputana. Their women wear on the head the bij\ a
Rajputana ornament, and use the chdru, a deep brass plate
for drinking, which also belongs there. Their songs are
said to be in the Rajasthani dialect. It seems likely that
the Parwars may be identical with the Porawal subcaste
found in other Provinces, which, judging from the name, may
belong to Rajputana. In the northern Districts the Parwars

1 Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xvii. p. 51. ^ This article is based on papers

2 Ibidem. by Mr. Pancham Lai, Naib-Tahslldar

3 Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sihora, and Munshi Kanhya Lai, of
Sects, p. 207. the Gazetteer office.

158

BAN I A

speak Bundeli, but in the south their language is said to
be Marwari.

Among the Parwars the Samaiya or Channagri form
a separate sectarian Jain group. They do not worship
the images of the Jain Tirthakars, but enshrine the sacred
books of the Jains in their temples, and worship these.
The Parwars will take daughters in marriage from the Chan-
nagris, and sometimes give their daughters in consideration
of a substantial bride-price. Among the Parwars themselves
there is a social division between the Ath Sake and
the Chao Sake ; the former will not permit the marriage of
persons related more nearly than eight degrees, while the
latter permit it after four degrees. The Ath Sake have the
higher position, and if one of them marries a Chao Sake he
is degraded to that group. Besides this the Parwars have
an inferior division called Benaikia, which consists of the
offspring of irregular unions and of widows who have
remarried. Persons who have committed a caste offence and
cannot pay the fine imposed on them for it also go into this
subcaste. The Benaikias ^ themselves are distributed into
four groups of varying degrees of respectability, and families
who live correctly and marry as well as they can tend to rise
from one to the other until after several generations they
may again be recognised as Parwars proper.

The Parwars have twelve gotras or main sections, and
each gotra has, or is supposed to have, twelve inuls or
subsections. A Parwar must not marry in his own gotra
nor in the mul of his mother, or any of his grandmothers
or greatgrandmothers. This practically bars marriage within
seven degrees of relationship. But a man's sister and
daughter may be married in the same family, and even to
two brothers, and a man can marry two sisters.

As a rule no bride-price is paid, but occasionally an
old man desiring a wife will give something substantial
to her father in secret. There are two forms of marriage,
called Thinga and Dajanha ; in the former, women do
not accompany the wedding procession, and they have a
separate marriage-shed at the bridegroom's house for their
own celebrations ; while in the latter, they accompany it

' See also notice of Benaikias in article on Vidur.

II J'ARlVyjR 159

and erect such a shed at the house in the bridegroom's
village or town where they have their lodging. Before
the wedding, the bridegroom, mounted on a horse, and the
bride, carried in a litter, proceed together round the mar-
riage-shed. The bridegroom then stands by the sacred
post in the centre and the bride walks seven times round
him. In the evening there was a custom of dressing
the principal male relatives of the bridegroom in women's
clothes and making them dance, but this is now being
discarded. On the fifth day is held a rite called Palkachar.
A new cot is provided by the bride's father, and on it is
spread a red cloth. The couple are seated on this with
their hands entwined, and their relations come and make
them presents. If the bridegroom catches hold of the dress
of his mother- or father-in-law, they are expected to make
him a handsome present. In other respects the wedding
follows the ordinary Hindu ritual. Widow-marriage and
divorce are forbidden among the Farwars proper, and those
who practise them go into the lower Benaikia group.

The Parwars are practically all Jains of the Digambari ^ Reii-
sect. They build costly and beautiful temples for their 5'°":
Tirthakars, especially for their favourite Parasnath. They observ-
have also many Hindu practices. They observe the Diwali, ^'^^^^•
Rakshabandhan and Holi festivals ; they say that at the
Diwali the last Tirthakar Mahavira attained beatitude and
the gods rained down jewels ; the little lamps now lighted
at Diwali are held to be symbolic of these jewels. They
tie the threads round the wrist on Rakshabandhan to keep
off evil spirits. They worship Sitala Devi, the Hindu
goddess of smallpox, and employ Brahmans to choose
names for their children and fix the dates of their wedding
and other ceremonies, though not at the ceremonies
themselves.

The caste burn the dead, with the exception of the 6. Dis-
bodies of young children, which are buried. The corpse p°^^! °^
is sometimes placed sitting in a car to be taken to the
cremation ground, but often laid on a bier in the ordinary
manner. The sitting posture is that in which all the
Tirthakars attained paradise, and their images always repre-
sent them in this posture. The corpse is naked save for

i6o

BANIA

a new piece of cloth round the waist, but it is covered
with a sheet. The Jains do not shave their hair in
token of mourning, nor do they offer sacrificial cakes to
the dead. When the body is burnt they bathe in the nearest
water and go home. Neither the bearers nor the mourners
are held to be impure. Next day the mourning family, both
men and women, visit Parasnath's temple, lay two pounds
of Indian millet before the god and go home.^ But in the
Central Provinces they whitewash their houses, get their
clothes washed, throw away their earthen pots and give a
feast to the caste.

The Parwars abstain from eating any kind of flesh and
from drinking liquor. They have a panchdyat and impose
penalties for offences against caste rules like the Hindus.
Among the offences are the killing of any living thing,
unchastity or adultery, theft or other bad conduct, taking
cooked food or water from a caste from which the Parwars
do not take them, and violation of any rule of their religion.
To get vermin in a wound, or to be beaten by a low-caste
man or with a shoe, incidents which entail serious penalties
among the Hindus, are not offences with the Parwars.
When an offender is put out of caste the ordinary depriva-
tion is that he is not allowed to enter a Jain temple, and
in serious cases he may also not eat nor drink with the caste.
The Parwars are generally engaged in the trade in grain,
ghi^ and other staples. Several of them are well-to-do and
own villages.

Bania, Srimali. — This subcaste takes its name from the
town of Srimal, which is now Bhinmal in Marwar. They
numbered 600 persons in the Central Provinces in 191 1, most
of whom belonged to the Hoshangabad District. More than
two-thirds were Hindus and the remainder Jains. Colonel
Tod writes of Bhinmal and an adjoining town, Sanchor :
" These towns are on the high road to Cutch and Gujarat,
which has given them from the most remote times a
commercial celebrity. Bhinmal is said to contain about
1500 houses and Sanchor half that number. Very wealthy
mahdjans or merchants used to reside here, but insecurity

^ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xvii. p. 8i.

II UAfRE i6i

both within and without has much injured these cities."
From Bhinmal the Srimah's appear to have gone to Gujarat,
where they are found in considerable numbers. Their
legend of origin is that tlie goddess Lakshmi created from
a flower-garland 90,000 families to act as servants to the
90,000 Srimali Brahmans, and these were the ancestors of
the Srimali Banias.^ Both the Jain and Hindu sections
of the Srimali Banias employ Srimali Brahmans as priests.
Like other classes of Banias, the Srimali are divided into
two sections, the Bisa and Dasa, or twenty and ten, of which
the Bisa are considered to be of pure and the Dasa of some-
what mixed descent. In Gujarat they also have a third
territorial group, known as Ladva, from Lad, the old name
of Gujarat. All three subdivisions take food together but
do not intermarry." The two highest sections of the Oswal
Banias are called Sri Srimal and Srimal, and it is possible
that further investigation might show the Srimals and
Oswals to have been originally of one stock.

Bania, Umre. — This Hindu subcaste belongs to Damoh
and Jubbulpore. They are perhaps the same as the Ummar
Banias of the United Provinces, who reside in the Meerut,
Agra and Kumaon Divisions. The name Umre is found
as a subdivision of several castes in the Central Provinces,
as the Telis and others, and is probably derived from some
town or tract of country in northern or central India, but
no identification has been made. Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam
states that in Gujarat the Ummar Banias are also known
as Bagaria from the Bagar or wild country, comprised in
the Dongarpur and Pertabgarh States of Rajputana, where
considerable numbers of them are still settled. Their head-
quarters is at Sagwara, near Dongarpur,^ In Damoh the
Umre Banias formerly cultivated the al plant,'* which yielded
a well-known dye, and hence they lost caste, as in soaking the
roots of the plant to extract the dye the numerous insects in
them are necessarily destroyed. The Dosar subcaste ^ are
a branch of the Umre, who allow widow-remarriage.

1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of ^ Ibidem, p. 98.

Gujarat, p. 99. * Merinda citrifolia, see art. Alia.

■■^ Ibidem. -^ See article.

VOL. II M

BANJARA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

4-
5-
6.

7.
8.

9-
lo.
1 1.

Historical notice of the caste.
Batijdras derived frojn the

Chdrans or Bhdts.
Chdran Banjdras oiiployed

with the Mughal armies.
Internal structure.
Minor subcastes.
Marriage : betrothal.
Marriage.
Widow-remarriage.
Birth ajtd death.
Religion : Banjdri Devi.
Mithu Bhiikia.

22. TJieir

12. Siva Bhaia.

13. Worship of cattle.

1 4. Connection with the Sikhs.
I 5 . Witchcraft.

1 6. Human sacrifice.

1 7. Admissio7i of outsiders : kid-

7iapped children and slaves.

18. Dress.

1 9. Social customs.

20. The Ndik or headman. Ban-

jdra dogs.

2 1 . Crimi7ial tendencies of the

caste.
virtues.

Banjara, Wanjari, Labhana, Mukeri/ — The caste
of carriers and drivers of pack- bullocks. In 191 i the
Banjaras numbered about 56,000 persons in the Central
Provinces and 80,000 in Berar, the caste being in greater
strength here than in any part of India except Hyderabad,
where their total is 174,000. Bombay comes next with a
figure approaching that of the Central Provinces and Berar,
and the caste belongs therefore rather to the Deccan than to
northern India. The name has been variously explained,
but the most probable derivation is from the Sanskrit

^ This article is based principally on
a Monograph on the Banjara Clan, by
Mr. N. F. Cumberlege of the Berar
Police, believed to have been first
written in 1869 and reprinted in 1882 ;
notes on the Banjaras written by
Colonel Mackenzie and printed in the
Berar Census Report (1881) and the
Pioneer newspaper (communicated by

Mrs. Horsburgh) ; Major Gunthorpe's
C7-iminal Tribes ; papers by Mr. M. E.
Khare, Extra-Assistant Commissioner,
Clianda ; Mr. Narayan Rao, Tahr. ,
Betul ; Mr. Mukund Rao, Manager,
Pachmarhi Estate ; and information
on the caste collected in Yeotnial and
Nimar.

162

rr. II DANJARAS nERIlKn hliOM /'///•: CJlAKANS 163

banijya kanr, a merchant. Sir H. M. Elliot held that the
name Banjfira was of great antiquity, quoting a passage from
the Dasa Kumara Charita of the eleventh or twelfth century.
But it was subsequently shown by Professor Cowcll that
the name l^anjara did not occur in the original text of this
work.^ Banjaras are supposed to be the people mentioned
by Arrian in the fourth century B.C., as leading a wandering
life, dwelling in tents and letting out for hire their beasts
of burden.' But this passage merely proves the existence
of carriers and not of the Banjara caste. Mr. Crooke states '^
that the first mention of Banjaras in Muhammadan his-
tory is in Sikandar's attack on Dholpur in A.D, 1504.'' It
seems improbable, therefore, that the Banjaras accompanied
the different Muhammadan invaders of India, as might
have been inferred from the fact that they came into
the Deccan in the train of the forces of Aurangzeb. The
caste has indeed two Muhammadan sections, the Turkia
and Mukeri.^ But both of these have the same Rajput
clan names as the Hindu branch of the caste, and it seems
possible that they may have embraced Islam under the
proselytising influence of Aurangzeb, or simply owing to
their having been employed with the Muhammadan troops.
The great bulk of the caste in southern India are Hindus,
and there seems no reason for assuming that its origin was
Muhammadan.

It may be suggested that the Banjaras are derived from 2. Ban-
the Charan or Bhat caste of Rajputana. Mr. Cumberlege, ^f'^^j^.^^
whose MonogTaph on the caste in Berar is one of the best from the
authorities, states that of the four divisions existing there o^^Bhats
the Charans are the most numerous and by far the most
interesting class.*" In the article on Bhat it has been ex-
plained how the Charans or bards, owing to their readiness

' Mr. Crooke's Tribes a)id Castes, actions Bombay Literary Society, \o\.\.

art. Banjara, para. i. 183) says that "as carriers of grain

2 Berar Census Report (1881), for Muhammadan armies the Banjaras

p. 150. have figured in history from the days

2 Ibidem, para. 2, quoting Dowson's of Muhammad Tughlak (a.D. 1340) to

Elliot, V. 100. those of Aurangzeb.''

* Khan Bahadur Fazalullah Lut- ^ Sir H. M. Elliot's Sttpplemeiital

fullah Farldi in the Bombay Gazetteer Glossary.

(Muhammadans of Gujarat, p. 86) ® Monograph on ike Batijdra Clan,

quoting from General Briggs [Trans- p. 8,

104 BANJARA tart

to kill themselves rather than give up the property entrusted
to their care, became the best safe-conduct for the passage
of goods in Rajputana. The name Charan is generally held
to mean ' Wanderer,' and in their capacity of bards the
Charans were accustomed to travel from court to court of
the different chiefs in quest of patronage. They were first
protected by their sacred character and afterwards by their
custom of trdga or chdndi, that is, of killing themselves when
attacked and threatening their assailants with the dreaded
fate of being haunted by their ghosts. Mr. Bhimbhai
Kirparam ^ remarks : " After Parasurama's dispersion of the
Kshatris the Charans accompanied them in their southward
flight. In those troubled times the Charans took charge
of the supplies of the Kshatri forces and so fell to their
present position of cattle-breeders and grain-carriers. . . ."
Most of the Charans are graziers, cattle-sellers and pack-
carriers. Colonel Tod says : ^ " The Charans and Bhats or
bards and genealogists are the chief carriers of these regions
(Marwar) ; their sacred character overawes the lawless Rajput
chief, and even the savage Koli and Bhil and the plundering
Sahrai of the desert dread the anathema of these singular
races, who conduct the caravans through the wildest and
most desolate regions." In another passage Colonel Tod
identifies the Charans and Banjaras ^ as follows : " Murlah
is an excellent township inhabited by a community of
Charans of the tribe Cucholia (Kacheli), who are Bunjarris
(carriers) by profession, though poets by birth. The alliance
is a curious one, and would appear incongruous were not
gain the object generally in both cases. It was the sanctity
of their office which converted our bardais (bards) into
buujdrris, for their persons being sacred, the immunity ex-
tended likewise to their goods and saved them from all
imposts ; so that in process of time they became the free-
traders of Rajputana. I was highly gratified with the re-
ception I received from the community, which collectively
advanced to meet me at some distance from the town. The
procession was headed by the village elders and all the fair
Charanis, who, as they approached, gracefully waved their

' Hindus of Gujarat, p. 214 e( seq. ^ Rajasthdn, i. 602.

3 Ibidem, ii. 570, 573.

II nANJARAS DKRIVKD I'ROM TIfR C/IARANS 165

scarfs over mc until I was fairly made captive by the muses
of Murlah ! It was a novel and interesting scene. The
manly persons of the Charans, clad in the flowing white
robe witii the high loose-folded turban inclined on one side,
from which the Didla or chaplet was gracefully suspended ;
and the uaiqucs or leaders, with their massive necklaces of
gold, with the image of the pitriszvar {iiianes) depending
therefrom, gave the whole an air of opulence and dignity.
The females were uniformly attired in a skirt of dark-brown
camlet, having a bodice of light-coloured stuff, with gold orna-
ments worked into their fine black hair ; and all had the
favourite chilris or rings of lidthiddnt (elephant's tooth)
covering the arm from the wrist to the elbow, and even
above it." A little later, referring to the same Charan
community. Colonel Tod writes : " The id?tda or caravan,
consisting of four thousand bullocks, has been kept up
amidst all the evils which have beset this land through
Mughal and Maratha tyranny. The utility of these caravans
as general carriers to conflicting armies and as regular tax-
paying subjects has proved their safeguard, and they were
too strong to be pillaged by any petty marauder, as any
one who has seen a Banjari encampment will be convinced.
They encamp in a square, and their grain-bags piled over
each other breast-high, with interstices left for their match-
locks, make no contemptible fortification. Even the ruth-
less Turk, Jamshid Khan, set up a protecting tablet in
favour of the Charans of Murlah, recording their exemp-
tion from dlnd contributions, and that there should be no
increase in duties, with threats to all who should injure
the community. As usual, the sun and moon are appealed
to as witnesses of good faith, and sculptured on the
stone. Even the forest Bhil and mountain Mair have set
up their signs of immunity and protection to the chosen
of Hinglaz (tutelary deity) ; and the figures of a cow and
its kairi (calf) carved in rude relief speak the agreement
that they should not be slain or stolen within the limits of
Murlah."

In the above passage the community described by
Colonel Tod were Charans, but he identified them with
Banjaras, using the name alternatively. He mentions their

1 66 BANJARA part

large herds of pack-bullocks, for the management of which
the Charans, who were graziers as well as bards, would
naturally be adapted ; the name given to the camp, tdnda,
is that generally used by the Banjaras ; the women wore
ivory bangles, which the Banjara women wear.^ In com-
menting on the way in which the women threw their scarves
over him, making him a prisoner. Colonel Tod remarks :
" This community had enjoyed for five hundred years the
privilege of making prisoner any Rana of Mewar who may
pass through Murlah, and keeping him in bondage until he
gives them a got or entertainment. The patriarch (of the
village) told me that I was in jeopardy as the Rana's repre-
sentative, but not knowing how I might have relished the
joke had it been carried to its conclusion, they let me escape."
Mr. Ball notes a similar custom of the Banjara women far
away in the Bastar State of the Central Provinces : " " To-
day I passed through another Banjara hamlet, from whence
the women and girls all hurried out in pursuit, and a brazen-
faced powerful-looking lass seized the bridle of my horse as
he was being led by the sais in the rear. The sais and
chaprdsi were both Muhammadans, and the forward conduct
of these females perplexed them not a little, and the former
was fast losing his temper at being thus assaulted by a
woman." Colonel Mackenzie in his account of the Banjara
caste remarks : ^ "It is certain that the Charans, whoever
they were, first rose to the demand which the great armies
of northern India, contending in exhausted countries far
from their basis of supply, created, viz. the want of a fearless
and reliable transport service. . . . The start which the
Charans then acquired they retain among Banjaras to this
day, though in very much diminished splendour and position.
As they themselves relate, they were originally five brethren,
Rathor, Turi, Panwar, Chauhan and Jadon. But fortune
particularly smiled on Bhika Rathor, as his four sons, Mersi,
Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, great names among the

' This custom does not necessarily frequently wear the hair long, down to

indicate a special connection between the neck, which is another custom of

the Banjaras and Charans, as it is Kajputana.

common to several castes in Kajputana ; ^ Jungle Life in India, p. 517.

but it indicates that the Banjaras came ■'' Berar Census Report (1881), p.

from Kajputana. Banjara men also 152.

II BANJARAS DJSRfVE/) I'ROM 77/K ClfARANS 167

Charans, rose immediately to eminence as commissariat
transporters in the north. And not only under the Delhi
Emperors, but under the Satara, subsequently the Poona
Raj, and the Subahship of the Nizam, did several of their
descendants rise to consideration and power." It thus seems
a reasonable hy[)othesis that the nucleus of the Banjara caste
was constituted by the Charans or bards of Rajputana. Mr.
Bhimbhai Kirparam ^ also identifies the Charans and Banjaras,
but I have not been able to find the exact passage. The
following' notice '"' by Colonel Tone is of interest in this
connection :

" The vast consumption that attends a Maratha army
necessarily superinduces the idea of great supplies ; yet,
notwithstanding this, the native powers never concern them-
selves about providing for their forces, and have no idea
of a grain and victualling department, which forms so
great an object in a European campaign. The Banias or
grain-sellers in an Indian army have always their servants
ahead of the troops on the line of march, to purchase in
the circumjacent country whatever necessaries are to be
disposed of. Articles of consumption are never wanting in
a native camp, though they are generally twenty-five per
cent dearer than in the town bazars ; but independent
of this mode of supply the Vanjaris or itinerant grain-
merchants furnish large quantities, which they bring on
bullocks from an immense distance. These are a very
peculiar race, and appear a marked and discriminated
people from any other I have seen in this country.
Formerly they were considered so sacred that they passed
in safety in the midst of contending armies ; of late, how-
ever, this reverence for their character is much abated
and they have been frequently plundered, particularly by
Tipu."

The reference to the sacred character attaching to
the Banjaras a century ago appears to be strong evidence
in favour of their derivation from the Charans. For it
could scarcely have been obtained by any body of com-
missariat agents coming into India with the Muham-

' Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat.
- Letter on the Marathas (1798), p. 67, India Office Tracts.

168

BANJARA

madans. The fact that the example of disregarding it
was first set by a Muhammadan prince points to the same
conclusion.

Mr. Irvine notices the Banjaras with the Mughal armies
in similar terms : ^ "It is by these people that the Indian
armies in the field are fed, and they are never injured by
either army. The grain is taken from them, but invariably
paid for. They encamp for safety every evening in a
regular square formed of the bags of grain of which they
construct a breastwork. They and their families are in
the centre, and the oxen are made fast outside. Guards
with matchlocks and spears are placed at the corners, and
their dogs do duty as advanced posts. I have seen them
with droves of 5000 bullocks. They do not move above
two miles an hour, as their cattle are allowed to graze as
they proceed on the march."

One may suppose that the Charans having acted as
carriers for the Rajput chiefs and courts, both in time of
peace and in their continuous intestinal feuds, were pressed
into service when the Mughal armies entered Rajputana
and passed through it to Gujarat and the Deccan. In
adopting the profession of transport agents for the imperial
troops they may have been amalgamated into a fresh
caste with other Hindus and Muhammadans doing the
same work, just as the camp language formed by the
superposition of a Persian vocabulary on to a grammatical
basis of Hindi became Urdu or Hindustani. The readiness
of the Charans to commit suicide rather than give up
property committed to their charge was not, however,
copied by the Banjaras, and so far as I am aware there
is no record of men of this caste taking their own lives,
though they had little scruple with those of others.

The Charan Banjaras, Mr. Cumberlege states," first
came to the Deccan with Asaf Khan in the campaign which
closed with the annexation by the Emperor Shah Jahan
of Ahmadnagar and Berar about 1630. Their leaders or
Naiks were Bhangi and Jhangi of the Rathor^ and

' Army of the Indian A/itt^hals,
p. 192.

'^ Monograph, p. 14, and Jierar
Census Report (1S81) (Kilts), p. 151.

^ These are held to have been de-
scendants of the Bhika Rathor referred
to by Colonel Mackenzie above.

II C//ARAN n.lA'J.lh'AS U'l'I'If MlUJllAI. ARMJI'.S 169

Bhagvvun Das of the Jadtin clan. Bhangi and Jhangi had
180,000 pack-bullocks, and Bhagwan Das 52,000. It
was naturally an object with Asaf Khan to keep his
commissariat well up with his force, and as Bhangi and
Jhangi made difficulties about the supply of grass and
water to their cattle, he gave them an order engraved on
copper in letters of gold to the following effect :

Ranjan kd pdtii

ChJiappar kd ghds

Din kc tin k/ifin miidf;

Aur jalidn Asaf Jdli ke ghorc

IVahdn Blian^^i J/uDigi kc bail,

which may be rendered as follows : "If you can find no
water elsewhere you may even take it from the pots of
my followers ; grass you may take from the roofs of their
huts ; and I will pardon you up to three murders a day,
provided that wherever I find my cavalry, Bhangi and
Jhangi's bullocks shall be with them." This grant is still
in the possession of Bhangi Naik's descendant who lives at
Musi, near HingoH. He is recognised by the Hyderabad
Court as the head Naik of the Banjara caste, and on his
death his successor receives a khillat or dress-of-honour from
His Highness the Nizam. After Asaf Khan's campaign and
settlement in the Deccan, a quarrel broke out between the
Rathor clan, headed by Bhangi and Jhangi, and the Jadons
under Bhagwan Das, owing to the fact that Asaf Khan had
refused to give Bhagwan Das a grant like that quoted above.
Both Bhangi and Bhagwan Das were slain in the feud and
the Jadons captured the standard, consisting of eight thdns
(lengths) of cloth, which was annually presented by the
Nizam to Bhangi's descendants. When Mr. Cumberlege
wrote (1869), this standard was in the possession of Hatti
Naik, a descendant of Bhagwan D3.S, who had an estate
near Muchli Bunder, in the Madras Presidency. Colonel
Mackenzie states ^ that the leaders of the Rathor clan
became so distinguished not only in their particular line
but as men of war that the Emperors recognised their
carrying distinctive standards, which were known as dJial

1 See note 3, p. 16S.

I70 BAN JAR A part

by the Rathors themselves. Jhangi's family was also
represented in the person of Ramu Naik, the patel or
headman of the village of Yaoli in the Yeotmal District.
In 1791—92 the Banjaras were employed to supply grain
to the British army under the Marquis of Cornwallis during
the siege of Seringapatam/ and the Duke of Wellington
in his Indian campaigns regularly engaged them as part of
the commissariat staff of his army. On one occasion he
said of them : " The Banjaras I look upon in the light
of servants of the public, of whose grain I have a right
to regulate the sale, always taking care that they have
a proportionate advantage." -

Mr. Cumberlege gives four main divisions of the caste
in Berar, the Charans, Mathurias, Labhanas and Dharis.
Of these the Charans are by far the most numerous and
important, and included all the famous leaders of the
caste mentioned above. The Charans are divided into
the five clans, Rathor, Panwar, Chauhan, Puri and Jadon
or Burthia, all of these being the names of leading Rajput
clans ; and as the Charan bards themselves were probably
Rajputs, the Banjaras, who are descended from them, may
claim the same lineage. Each clan or sept is divided into
a number of subsepts ; thus among the Rathors the
principal subsept is the Bhurkia, called after the Bhika
Rathor already mentioned ; and this is again split into
four groups, Mersi, Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, named
after his four sons. As a rule, members of the same clan,
Panwar, Rathor and so on, may not intermarry, but Mr.
Cumberlege states that a man belonging to the Banod
or Bhurkia subsepts of the Rathors must not take a wife
from his own subsept, but may marry any other Rathor
girl. It seems probable that the same rule may hold
with the other subsepts, as it is most unlikely that inter-
marriage should still be prohibited among so large a
body as the Rathor Charans have now become. It may
be supposed therefore that the division into subsepts took
place when it became too inconvenient to prohibit marriage

' General Briggs quoted by Mr. - A. Wellesley (1800), quoted in

Farldi in Bombay Gazetteer, Muham- Mr. Crooke's edition of Hobson-Jobson,
madans of Gujarat, p. 86. art. Brinjarry.

II I INTERNAL STRUCTURE 171

throughout the whole body of the sept, as has happened
in other cases. The Mathuria Banjaras take their name
from Mathura or M ultra and appear to be Brahmans.
" They wear the sacred thread/ know the Gayatri Mantra,
and to the present day abstain from meat and Hquor,
subsisting entirely on grain and vegetables. They always
had a sufficiency of Charans and servants {Jdiigar) in their
villages to perform all necessary manual labour, and would
not themselves work for a remuneration otherwise than
by carrying grain, which was and still is their legitimate
occupation ; but it was not considered undignified to cut
wood and grass for the household. Both Mathuria and
Labhana men are fairer than the Charans ; they wear
better jewellery and their loin-cloths have a silk border,
while those of the Charans are of rough, common cloth."
The Mathurias are sometimes known as Ahiwasi, and may
be connected with the Ahiwasis of the Hindustani Districts,
who also drive pack-bullocks and call themselves Brahmans.
But it is naturally a sin for a Brahman to load the sacred
ox, and any one who does so is held to have derogated
from the priestly order. The Mathurias are divided
according to Mr. Cumberlege into four groups called Pande,
Dube, Tiwari and Chaube, all of which are common titles
of Hindustani Brahmans and signify a man learned in
one, two, three and four Vedas respectively. It is probable
that these groups are cxogamous, marrying with each
other, but this is not stated. The third division, the
Labhanas, may derive their name from lavana, salt, and
probably devoted themselves more especially to the carriage
of this staple. They are said to be Rajputs, and to be
descended from Mota and Mela, the cowherds of Krishna.
The fourth subdivision are the Dharis or bards of the caste,
who rank below the others. According to their own story ""
their ancestor was a member of the Bhat caste, who became
a disciple of Nanak, the Sikh apostle, and with him attended
a feast given by the Mughal Emperor Humayun. Here
he ate the flesh of a cow or buffalo, and in consequence
became a Muhammadan and was circumcised. He was
employed as a musician at the Mughal court, and his sons

^ Cumberlege, loc. cit. - Cumberlege, pp. 28, 29.

1/2 DANJARA PART

joined the Charans and became the bards of the Banjara
caste. " The Dharis," Mr. Cumberlege continues, " are both
musicians and mendicants ; they sing in praise of their
own and the Charan ancestors and of the old kings of
Delhi ; while at certain seasons of the year they visit
Charan hamlets, when each family gives them a young
bullock or a few rupees. They are Muhammadans, but
worship Sarasvati and at their marriages offer up a he-goat
to Gaji and Gandha, the two sons of the original Bhat, who
became a IMuhammadan. At burials a Fakir is called to
read the prayers."

Besides the above four main divisions, there are a num-
ber of others, the caste being now of a very mixed character.
Two principal Muhammadan groups are given by Sir
H. Elliot, the Turkia and Mukeri. The Turkia have thirty-
six septs, some with Rajput names and others territorial or
titular. They seem to be a mixed group of Hindus who
may have embraced Islam as the religion of their employers.
The Mukeri Banjaras assert that they derive their name
from Mecca (Makka), which one of their Naiks, who had his
camp in the vicinity, assisted Father Abraham in building.^
Mr. Crooke thinks that the name may be a corruption of
Makkeri and mean a seller of maize. Mr. Cumberlege says
of them : " Multanis and Mukeris have been called Banjaras
also, but have nothing in common with the caste ; the Multanis
are carriers of grain and the Mukeris of wood and timber, and
hence the confusion may have arisen between them." But they
are now held to be Banjaras by common usage ; in Saugor
the Mukeris also deal in cattle. From Chanda a different set
of subcastes is reported called Bhusarjin, Ladjin, Saojin and
Kanhejin ; the first may take their name from bliusa, the
chaff of wheat, while Lad is the term -used for people
coming from Gujarat, and Sao means a banker. In Sambalpur
again a class of Thuria Banjaras is found, divided into the
Bandesia, Atharadesia, Navadcsia and Chhadesia, or the men
of the 52 districts, the 18 districts, the 9 districts and the
6 districts respectively. The first and last two of these take
food and marry with each other. Other groups are the Guar
Banjaras, apparently from Guara or Gwrda, a milkman, the
' Elliot's Races, quoted by Mr. Crooke, ibidem.

II MARRIAi.E: HETROr/fAL 173

Guguria Baiijaras, wiio may, Mr. Ilira Lai suggests, take their
name from trading in gi'tgar^ a Icind of gum, and the Bahrup
l^anjaras, who arc Nats or acrobats. In Bcrar also a number
of the caste have become respectable cultivators and now call
themselves Wanjari, disclaiming any connection with the
Banjaras, probably on account of the bad reputation for crime
attached to these latter. Many of the Wanjaris have been
allowed to rank with the Kunbi caste, and call themselves
Wanjari Kunbis in order the better to dissociate themselves
from their parent caste. The existing caste is therefore of a
very mixed nature, and the original Brahman and Charan
strains, though still perfectly recognisable, cannot have main-
tained their purity.

At a betrothal in Nimar the bridegroom and his friends 6. Mar-
come and stay in the next village to that of the bride. The two betrothal
parties meet on the boundary of the village, and here the bride-
price is fixed, which is often a very large sum, ranging from
Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000. Until the price is paid the father
will not let the bridegroom into his house. In Yeotmal,
when a betrothal is to be made, the parties go to a liquor-shop
and there a betel-leaf and a large handful of sugar are
distributed to everybody. Here the price to be paid for the
bride amounts to Rs. 40 and four young bullocks. Prior to
the wedding the bridegroom goes and stays for a month or
so in the house of the bride's father, and during this time
he must provide a supply of liquor daily for the bride's
male relatives. The period was formerly longer, but now
extends to a month at the most. While he resides at the
bride's house the bridegroom wears a cloth over his head
so that his face cannot be seen. Probably the prohibition
against seeing him applies to the bride only, as the rule in
Berar is that between the betrothal and marriage of a
Charan girl she may not eat or drink in the bridegroom's
house, or show her face to him or any of his relatives.
Mathuria girls must be wedded before they are seven years
old, but the Charans permit them to remain single until after
adolescence.

Banjara marriages are frequently held in the rains, a 7. Mar-
season forbidden to other Hindus, but naturally the most con- "^^^•
venient to them, because in the dry weather they are usuall}'

174 BANJARA part

travelling. For the marriage ceremony they pitch a tent in lieu
of the marriage-shed, and on the ground they place two rice-
pounding pestles, round which the bride and bridegroom
make the seven turns. Others substitute for the pestles
a pack - saddle with two bags of grain in order to sym-
bolise their camp life. During the turns the girl's hand
is held by the Joshi or village priest, or some other Brahman,
in case she should fall ; such an occurrence being probably a
very unlucky omen. Afterwards, the girl runs away and the
Brahman has to pursue and catch her. In Bhandara the girl
is clad only in a light skirt and breast-cloth, and her body is
rubbed all over with oil in order to make his task more
difficult. During this time the bride's party pelt the Brah-
man with rice, turmeric and areca-nuts, and sometimes even
with stones ; and if he is forced to cry with the pain, it is
considered luck}^ But if he finally catches the girl, he is
conducted to a dais and sits there holding a brass plate
in front of him, into which the bridegroom's party drop
presents. A case is mentioned of a Brahman having obtained
Rs. 70 in this manner. Among the Mathuria Banjaras of
Berar the ceremony resembles the usual Hindu type.^
Before the wedding the families bring the branches of eight
or ten different kinds of trees, and perform the Jiom or fire
sacrifice with them. A Brahman knots the clothes of the
couple together, and they walk round the fire. When the
bride arrives at the bridegroom's hamlet after the wedding,
two small brass vessels are given to her ; she fetches water in
these and returns them to the women of the boy's family, who
mix this with other water previously drawn, and the girl, who
up to this period was considered of no caste at all, becomes
a Mathuria." Food is cooked with this water, and the bride
and bridegroom are formally received into the husband's kttri
or hamlet. It is possible that the mixing of the water may be
a survival of the blood covenant, whereby a girl was received
into her husband's clan on her marriage by her blood being
mixed with that of her husband.'^ Or it may be simply
symbolical of the union of the families. In some localities
after the wedding the bride and bridegroom are made to

1 Cumberlege, pp. 4, 5. ' Cumberlege, I.e.

^ This custom is noticed in the article on Khairwar.

remar-
riajre.

II 111 RTJ{ AND Dl'lA I'll 175

stand on two bullocks, which arc driven forward, and it is
believed that whichever of them falls off first will be the first
to die.

Owing to the scarcity of women in the caste a widow 8. Widow
is seldom allowed to go out of the family, and when her
husband dies she is taken either by his elder or younger
brother ; this is in opposition to the usual Hindu practice,
which forbids the marriage of a woman to her deceased
husband's elder brother, on the ground that as successor to
the headship of the joint family he stands to her, at least
potentially, in the light of a father. If the widow prefers
another man and runs away to him, the first husband's
relatives claim compensation, and threaten, in the event of
its being refused, to abduct a girl from this man's family in
exchange for the widow. But no case of abduction has
occurred in recent years. In Berar the compensation
claimed in the case of a woman marrying out of the family
amounts to Rs. 75, with Rs. 5 for the Naik or headman of
the family. Should the widow elope without her brother-
in-law's consent, he chooses ten or twelve of his friends to
go and sit dharna (starving themselves) before the hut of
the man who has taken her. He is then bound to supply
these men with food and liquor until he has paid the
customary sum, when he may marry the widow.^ In the
event of the second husband being too poor to pay monetary
compensation, he gives a goat, which is cut into eighteen
pieces and distributed to the community.^

After the birth of a child the mother is unclean for five 9- Birth
days, and lives apart in a separate hut, which is run up for ^"^ ^^^^'^^'
her use in the kuri or hamlet. On the sixth day she washes
the feet of all the children in the kuri, feeds them and then
returns to her husband's hut. When a child is born in a
moving tdnda or camp, the same rule is observed, and for
five days the mother walks alone after the camp during the
daily march. The caste bury the bodies of unmarried

1 Cuniberlege, p. 18. seems, however, to be a euphemism,

2 Mr. Hlra Lai suggests that this eighteen castes being a term of inde-
custom may have something to do with finite multitude for any or no caste,
the phrase Athara jat ke gayi, or The number eighteen may be selected
'She has gone to the eighteen castes,' from the same unknown association
used of a woman who has been turned which causes the goat to be cut into
out of the community. This phrase eighteen pieces.

176 BANJARA part

persons and those dying of smallpox and burn the others.
Their rites of mourning are not strict, and are observed
only for three days. The Banjaras have a saying : " Death
in a foreign land is to be preferred, where there are no
kinsfolk to mourn, and the corpse is a feast for birds and
animals " ; but this may perhaps be taken rather as an ex-
pression of philosophic resignation to the fate which must
be in store for many of them, than a real preference, as with
most people the desire to die at home almost amounts to
an instinct.

10. Reii- One of the tutelary deities of the Banjaras is Banjari
1'°"; . Devi, whose shrine is usually located in the forest. It is
Devi. often represented by a heap of stones, a large stone smeared

with vermilion being placed on the top of the heap to repre-
sent the goddess. When a Banjara passes the place he
casts a stone upon the heap as a prayer to the goddess to
protect him from the dangers of the forest. A similar
practice of offering bells from the necks of cattle is recorded
by Mr. Thurston : ^ "It is related by Moor that he passed
a tree on which were hanging several hundred bells. This
was a superstitious sacrifice of the Banjaras (Lambaris), who,
passing this tree, are in the habit of hanging a bell or bells
upon it, which they take from the necks of their sick cattle,
expecting to leave behind them the complaint also. Our
servants particularly cautioned us against touching these
diabolical bells, but as a few of them were taken for our
own cattle, several accidents which happened were imputed
to the anger of the deity to whom these offerings were
made ; who, they say, inflicts the same disorder on the
unhappy bullock who carries a bell from the tree, as that
from which he relieved the donor." In their houses the
Banjari Devi is represented by a pack-saddle set on high in
the room, and this is worshipped before the caravans set
out on their annual tours.

11. Mithu Another deity is Mlthu Bhukia, an old freebooter, who
lived in the Central Provinces ; he is venerated by the
dacoits as the most clever dacoit known in the annals of the
caste, and a hut was usually set apart for him in each

1 Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 344, quoting from Moor's
Narrative of Little s Detachment.

Bhukia.

II .SV/Vi lUlAlA 177

hamlet, a staff carrying a white flag being planted before
it. Before setting out for a clacoity, the men engaged would
assemble at the hut of Mlthu Bhtikia, and, burning a lamp
before him, ask for an omen ; if the wick of the lamp
drooped the omen was propitious, and the men present
then set out at once on the raid without returning home.
They might not speak to each other nor answer if challenged ;
for if any one spoke the charm would be broken and the
protection of Mithu 15hukia removed ; and they should
either return to take the omens again or give up that
particular dacoity altogether.^ It has been recorded as a
characteristic trait of Banjaras that they will, as a rule, not
answer if spoken to when engaged on a robbery, and the
custom probably arises from this observance ; but the
worship of Mlthu Bhukia is now frequently neglected.
After a successful dacoity a portion of the spoil would be
set apart for Mlthu Bhukia, and of the balance the Nfiik or
headman of the village received two shares if he participated
in the crime ; the man who struck the first blow or did most
towards the common object also received two shares, and
all the rest one share. With Mlthu Bhukia's share a feast
was given at which thanks were returned to him for the
success of the enterprise, a burnt offering of incense being
made in his tent and a libation of liquor poured over the
flagstaff. A portion of the food was sent to the women
and children, and the men sat down to the feast. Women
were not allowed to share in the worship of Mlthu Bhukia
nor to enter his hut.

Another favourite deity is Siva Bhaia, whose story is 12. Siva
given by Colonel Mackenzie ^ as follows : " The love borne ^'^^'^•
by Mari Mata, the goddess of cholera, for the handsome Siva
Rathor, is an event of our own times (1874) ; she proposed
to him, but his heart being pre-engaged he rejected her ;
and in consequence his earthly bride was smitten sick and
died, and the hand of the goddess fell heavily on Siva
himself, thwarting all his schemes and blighting his fortunes
and possessions, until at last he gave himself up to her. She
then possessed him and caused him to prosper exceedingly,
gifting him with supernatural power until his fame was

^ Cumberlege, p. 35. 2 Bei-ai- Census Report, i8Si.

VOL. II N

178

BANJARA

noised abroad, and he was venerated as the saintly Siva
Bhaia or great brother to all women, being himself unable
to marry. But in his old age the goddess capriciously
wished him to marry and have issue, but he refused and
was slain and buried at Pohur in Berar. A temple was
erected over him and his kinsmen became priests of it,
and hither large numbers are attracted by the supposed
efficacy of vows made to Siva, the most sacred of all
oaths being that taken in his name." If a Banjara
swears by Siva Bhaia, placing his right hand on the
bare head of his son and heir, and grasping a cow's tail
in his left, he will fear to jaerjure himself, lest by doing
so he should bring injury on his son and a murrain on his
cattle.^

Naturally also the Banjaras worshipped their pack-
cattle.'"' " When sickness occurs they lead the sick man
to the feet of the bullock called Hatadiya.^ On this animal
no burden is ever laid, but he is decorated with streamers
of red-dyed silk, and tinkling bells with many brass chains
and rings on neck and feet, and silken tassels hanging in all
directions ; he moves steadily at the head of the convoy,
and at the place where he lies down when he is tired they
pitch their camp for the day ; at his feet they make their
vows when difficulties overtake them, and in illness, whether
of themselves or their cattle, they trust to his worship for
a cure."

Mr. Balfour also mentions in his paper that the Banjaras
call themselves Sikhs, and it is noticeable that the Charan
subcaste say that their ancestors were three Rajput boys who
followed Guru Nanak, the prophet of the Sikhs. The influ-
ence of Nanak appears to have been widely extended over
northern India, and to have been felt by large bodies of the
people other than those who actually embraced the Sikh
religion. Cumberlege states ■* that before starting to his
marriage the bridegroom ties a rupee in his turban in honour
of Guru Nanak, which is afterwards expended in sweetmeats.

' Cumberlege, p. 21.

2 The followini; instance is taken
from Mr. I'alfour's article, ' Migratory
Tribes of Central India,' inJ.A.S.B.,
new series, vol. xiii., quoted in Mr.

Crook e's Tribes and Castes.

^ From the Sanskrit Hatya-adhya,
meaning ' That which it is most sinful
to slay ' (Balfour).

* Monograph, p. 12.

11 WrrCIICRAFT 179

But otherwise the modern Banjaras do not appear to retain
any Sikh observances.

"The Banjaras," Sir A. L}all writes/ "are terribly vexed 15. vvitch-
by witchcraft, to which their wandcrin<^ and precarious exist- '^'^'^ ''
cnce especially exposes them in the shape of fever, rheuma-
tism and dysentery. Solemn inquiries are still held in the
wild jungles where these people camp out like gipsies, and
many an unlucky hag has been strangled by sentence of their
secret tribunals." The business of magic and witchcraft was
in the hands of two classes of Bhagats or magicians, one
good and the other bad," who may correspond to the Euro-
pean practitioners of black and white magic. The good
Bhagat is called Nimbu-katna or lemon -cutter, a lemon
speared on a knife being a powerful averter of evil spirits.
He is a total abstainer from meat and liquor, and fasts
once a week on the day sacred to the deity whom he
venerates, usually Mahadeo ; he is highly respected and
never panders to vice. But the Janta, the ' Wise or
Cunning Man,' is of a different type, and the following
is an account of the devilry often enacted when a deputa-
tion visited him to inquire into the cause of a prolonged
illness, a cattle murrain, a sudden death or other misfortune.
A woman might often be called a Dakun or witch in
spite, and when once this word had been used, the husband
or nearest male relative would be regularly bullied into
consulting the Janta. Or if some woman had been ill for
a week, an avaricious ^ husband or brother would begin to
whisper foul play. Witchcraft would be mentioned, and
the wise man called in. He would give the sufferer a quid
of betel, muttering an incantation, but this rarely effected a
cure, as it was against the interest of all parties that it should
do so. The sufferer's relatives would then go to their Naik,
tell him that the sick person was bewitched, and ask him to
send a deputation to the Janta or witch-doctor. This would
be at once despatched, consisting of one male adult from
each house in the hamlet, with one of the sufferer's relatives.
On the road the party would bury a bone or other article to

1 Asiatic Stttdies,\. p. Ii8(ed. 1899). produced from his Monograph.

2 Cumberlege, p. 23 et seq. The ^ His motive being the fine inflicted
description of witchcraft is wholly re- on the witch's famih-.

i8o BANJARA part

test the wisdom of the witch-doctor. But he was not to be
caught out, and on their arrival he would bid the deputation
rest, and come to him for consultation on the following day.
Meanwhile during the night the Janta would be thoroughly
coached by some accomplice in the party. Next morning,
meeting the deputation, he would tell every man all particu-
lars of his name and family ; name the invalid, and tell the
party to bring materials for consulting the spirits, such as oil,
vermilion, sugar, dates, cocoanut, chironji} and sesamum.
In the evening, holding a lamp, the Janta would be possessed
by Mariai, the goddess of cholera ; he would mention all
particulars of the sick man's illness, and indignantly inquire
why they had buried the bone on the road, naming it and
describing the place. If this did not satisfy the deputation,
a goat would be brought, and he would name its sex with
any distinguishing marks on the body. The sick person's
representative would then produce his iiazar or fee, formerly
Rs. 25, but lately the double of this or more. The Janta
would now begin a sort of chant, introducing the names of
the families of the kuri other than that containing her who
was to be proclaimed a witch, and heap on them all kinds of
abuse. Finally, he would assume an ironic tone, extol the
virtues of a certain family, become facetious, and praise its
representative then present. This man would then question
the Janta on all points regarding his own family, his connec-
tions, worldly goods, and what gods he worshipped, ask who
was the witch, who taught her sorcery, and how and why
she practised it in this particular instance. But the witch-
doctor, having taken care to be well coached, would answer
everything correctly and fix the guilt on to the witch. A goat
would be sacrificed and eaten with liquor, and the deputation
would return. The punishment for being proclaimed a
Dakun or witch was formerly death to the woman and a fine
to be paid by her relatives to the bewitched person's family.
The woman's husband or her sons would be directed to kill
her, and if they refused, other men were deputed to murder
her, and bury the body at once with all the clothing and
ornaments then on her person, while a further fine would be
exacted from the family for not doing away with her themselves.

1 The fruil of Buchanania latifolia.

II IIUMy\N SACRII-ICE i8i

But murder for witchcraft has been almost entirely stopped,
and nowadays the husband, after being fined a i^w head of
cattle, which are given to the sick man, is turned out of the
village with his wife. It is quite possible, however, that an
obnoxious old hag would even now not escape death, especi-
ally if the money fine were not forthcoming, and an instance
is known in recent times of a mother being murdered by her
three sons. The whole village combined to screen these
amiable young men, and eventually they made the Janta the
scapegoat, and he got seven years, while the murderers
could not be touched. Colonel Mackenzie writes that,
" Curious to relate, the Jantas, known locally as Bhagats, in
order to become possessed of their alleged powers of divina-
tion and prophecy, require to travel to Kazhe, beyond Surat,
there to learn and be instructed by low-caste Koli impostors."
This is interesting as an instance of the powers of witchcraft
being attributed by the Hindus or higher race to the indi-
genous primitive tribes, a rule which Dr. Tylor and Dr.
Jevons consider to hold good generally in the history of magic.

Several instances are known also of the Banjaras having i6. Human
practised human sacrifice. Mr. Thurston states : ^ " In ^
former times the Lambadis, before setting out on a journey,
used to procure a little child and bury it in the ground up
to the shoulders, and then drive their loaded bullocks over
the unfortunate victim. In proportion to the bullocks
thoroughly trampling the child to death, so their belief in a
successful journey increased." The Abbe Dubois describes
another form of sacrifice : "

" The Lambadis are accused of the still more atrocious
crime of offering up human sacrifices. When they wish to
perform this horrible act, it is said, they secretly carry off the
first person they meet. Having conducted the victim to
some lonely spot, they dig a hole in which they bury him up
to the neck. While he is still alive they make a sort of
lamp of dough made of flour, which they place on his head ;
this they fill with oil, and light four wicks in it. Having
done this, the men and women join hands and, forming a

1 Ethnographic Notes in Southern - Hindu Manners, Customs and

India, p. 507, quoting from the Rev. Ceremonies, p. 70.
J. Cain, Ind. Ant. viii. (1879).

l82

BANJARA

17. Ad-
mission of
outsiders :

circle, dance round their victim, singing and making a great
noise until he expires." Mr. Cumberlege records ^ the fol-
lowing statement of a child kidnapped by a Banjara caravan
in I 87 I. After explaining how he was kidnapped and the
tip of his tongue cut off to give him a defect in speech,
the Kunbi lad, taken from Sahungarhi, in the Bhandara
District, went on to say that, " The tdnda (caravan) encamped
for the night in the jungle. In the morning a woman named
Gangi said that the devil was in her and that a sacrifice must
be made. On this four men and three women took a boy to
a place they had made for puja (worship). They fed him
with milk, rice and sugar, and then made him stand up, when
Gangi drew a sword and approached the child, who tried to
run away ; caught and brought back to this place, Gangi,
holding the sword with both hands and standing on the
child's right side, cut off his head with one blow. Gangi col-
lected the blood and sprinkled it on the idol ; this idol is
made of stone, is about 9 inches high, and has something
sparkling in its forehead. The camp marched that day, and
for four or five days consecutively, without another sacrifice ;
but on the fifth day a young woman came to the camp to
sell curds, and having bought some, the Banjaras asked her
to come in in the evening and eat with them. She did come,
and after eating with the women slept in the camp. Early
next morning she was sacrificed in the same way as the boy
had been, but it took three blows to cut ofif her head ; it was
done by Gangi, and the blood was sprinkled on the stone
idol. About a month ago Sitaram, a Gond lad, who had
also been kidnapped and was in the camp, told me to run
away as it had been decided to offer me up in sacrifice at
the next Jiuti festival, so I ran away." The child having
been brought to the police, a searching and protracted in-
quiry was held, which, however, determined nothing, though
it did not disprove his story.

The Banjara caste is not closed to outsiders, but the
general rule is to admit only women who have been married
to Banjara men. Women of the lowest and impure castes

kidnapped

children ^^^ cxcludcd, and for some unknown reason the Patwas " and

and slaves.

' Monograph, p. 19.

2 The Patwas are weavers of silk

thread and the Nunias are masons and
navvies.

II KIDNArri-in ClIIIJyREN AND SLAVES 183

Nunias arc bracketed with these. In Nimar it is stated
that formerly Gonds, Korkus and even Balahis ^ might
become Banjaras, but this does not happen now, because
the caste has lost its occupation of carrying goods, and there
is therefore no inducement to enter it. In former times
they were much addicted to kidnapping children — these
were whipped up or enticed away whenever an opportunity
presented itself during their expeditions. The children were
first put into the gotiis or grain bags of the bullocks and so
carried for a few days, being made over at each halt to the
care of a woman, who would pop the child back into its
bag if any stranger passed by the encampment. The
tongues of boys were sometimes slit or branded with hot
gold, this last being the ceremony of initiation into the
caste still used in Nimar. Girls, if they were as old as seven,
were sometimes disfigured for fear of recognition, and for
this purpose the juice of the marking-nut^ tree would be
smeared on one side of the face, which burned into the
skin and entirely altered the appearance. Such children
were known as Jangar. Girls would be used as concubines
and servants of the married wife, and boys would also be
employed as servants. Jangar boys would be married to
Jangar girls, both remaining in their condition of servitude.
But sometimes the more enterprising of them would
abscond and settle down in a village. The rule was that
for seven generations the children of Jangars or slaves
continued in that condition, after which they were recog-
nised as proper Banjaras. The Jangar could not draw
in smoke through the stem of the huqqa when it was
passed round in the assembly, but must take off the stem
and inhale from the bowl. The Jangar also could not
eat off the bell-metal plates of his master, because these
were liable to pollution, but must use brass plates. At
one time the Banjaras conducted a regular traffic in
female slaves between Gujarat and Central India, selling
in each country the girls whom they had kidnapped in
the other.^

1 An impure caste of weavers, rank- ^ Malcolm. Memoir of Central

in;4 with the Mahars. India, ii. p. 296.

- Seniecarpns Anacardiuiii.

1 84 BANJARA part

i8. Dress. Up to twelve years of age a Charan girl only wears a

skirt with a shoulder-cloth tucked into the waist and carried
over the left arm and the head. After this she may have
anklets and bangles on the forearm and a breast -cloth.
But until she is married she may not have the zudnkri or
curved anklet, which marks that estate, nor wear bone or
ivory bangles on the upper arm.^ When she is ten years old
a Labhana girl is given two small bundles containing a nut,
some cowries and rice, which are knotted to two corners of
the dupatta or shoulder-cloth and hung over the shoulder,
one in front and one behind. This denotes maidenhood.
The bundles are considered sacred, are always knotted to the
shoulder-cloth in wear, and are only removed to be tucked
into the waist at the girl's marriage, where they are worn
till death. These bundles alone distinguish the Labhana
from the Mathuria woman. Women often have their hair
hanging down beside the face in front and woven behind
with silver thread into a plait down the back. This is
known as Anthi, and has a number of cowries at the end.
They have large bell-shaped ornaments of silver tied over
the head and hanging down behind the ears, the hollow
part of the ornament being stuffed with sheep's wool dyed
red ; and to these are attached little bells, while the anklets
on the feet are also hollow and contain little stones or balls,
which tinkle as they move. They have skirts, and separate
short cloths drawn across the shoulders according to the
northern fashion, usually red or green in colour, and along
the skirt-borders double lines of cowries are sewn. Their
breast-cloths are profusely ornamented with needle-work
embroidery and small pieces of glass sewn into them, and
are tied behind with cords of many colours whose ends are
decorated with cowries and beads. Strings of beads, ten to
twenty thick, threaded on horse-hair, are worn round the
neck. Their favourite ornaments are cowries,' and they

' Cumberlege, p. i6. change for a rupee could not be had

'^ Small double shells which are still in Chhattlsgarh outside the two prin-

used to a slight e.Ktent as a currency in cipal towns. As the cowries were

backward tracts. This would seem a form of currency they were prob-

an impossibly cumbrous method of ably held sacred, and hence sewn

carrying money about nowadays, but I on to clothes as a charm, just as

have been informed by a comparatively gold and silver are used for orna-

young official that in his father's lime, ments.

DKESS

iS:

have these on their dress, in their liouses and on the
trappinj^s of their bullocks. On the arms they have ten or
twelve bangles of ivory, or in default of this lac, horn or
cocoanut-shell. Mr. Ball states that he was "at once
struck by the peculiar costumes and brilliant clothing of
these Indian gipsies. They recalled to my mind the appear-
ance of the gipsies of the Lower Danube and Wallachia." ^
The most distinctive ornament of a Banjara married woman
is, however, a small stick about 6 inches long made of the
wood of the kJiair or catechu. In Nimar this is given to a
woman by her husband at marriage, and she wears it after-
wards placed upright on the top of the head, the hair
being wound round it and the head-cloth draped over it in
a graceful fashion. Widows leave it off, but on remarriage
adopt it again. The stick is known as chunda by the
Banjaras, but outsiders call it singh or horn. In Yeotmal,
instead of one, the women have two little sticks fixed
upright in the hair. The rank of the woman is said to be
shown by the angle at which she wears this horn." The
dress of the men presents no features of special interest.
In Nimar they usually have a necklace of coral beads, and
some of them carry, slung on a thread round the neck, a

^ Jtmgic Life in India, p. 516.

^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and
Fable contains the following notice of
horns as an article of dress : " Mr.
Buckingham says of a Tyrian lady,
' She wore on her head a hollow silver
horn rearing itself up obliquely from
the forehead. It was some four inches
in diameter at the root and pointed
at the extremity. This peculiarity re-
minded me forcibly of the expression
of the Psalmist : " Lift not up your
horn on high ; speak not with a stiff
neck. All the horns of the wicked
also will I cut off, but the horns of the
righteous shall be exalted" (Ps. Ixxv.
5, 10).' Bruce found in Abyssinia the
silver horns of warriors and distin-
guished men. In the reign of Henry
V. the horned headgear was introduced
into England and from the effigy of
Beatrice, Countess of Arundel, at
Arundel Church, who is represented
with the horns outspread to a great
extent, we may infer that the length

of the head -horn, like the length of
the shoe -point in the reign of Henry
VI., etc., marked the degree of rank.
To cut off such horns would be to
degrade ; and to exalt and extend such
horns would be to add honour and
dignity to the wearer." Webb {Herit-
age of Dress, p. 117) writes: "Mr.
Elworthy in a paper to the British
Association at Ipswich in 1865 con-
sidered the crown to be a development
from horns of honour. He maintained
that the symbols found in the head of
the god Serapis were the elements
from which were formed the composite
head-dress called the crown into which
horns entered to a very great extent."
This seems a doubtful speculation, but
still it may be quite possible that the
idea of distinguishing by a crown the
leader of the tribe was originally taken
from the antlers of the leader of the
herd. The helmets of the Vikings
were also, I believe, decorated with
horns.

1 86 BANJARA part

tin tooth-pick and ear-scraper, while a small mirror and
comb are kept in the head-cloth so that their toilet can be
performed anywhere.

Mr. Cumberlege ^ notes that in former times all Charan
Banjaras when carrying grain for an army placed a twig
of some tree, the sacred nlui " when available, in their
turban to show that they were on the war-path ; and
that they would do the same now if they had occasion to
fight to the death on any social matter or under any sup-
posed grievance.

The Banjaras eat all kinds of meat, including fowls and
pork, and drink liquor. But the Mathurias abstain from
both flesh and liquor. Major Gunthorpe states that the
Banjaras are accustomed to drink before setting out for a
dacoity or robbery and, as they smoke after drinking, the
remains of leaf-pipes lying about the scene of action may
indicate their handiwork. They rank below the cultivating
castes, and Brahmans will not take water to drink from
them. When engaged in the carrying trade, they usually
lived in kun's or hamlets attached to such regular villages
as had considerable tracts of waste land belonging to them.
When the tdnda or caravan started on its long carrying
trips, the young men and some of the women went with it
with the working bullocks, while the old men and the
remainder of the women and children remained to tend the
breeding cattle in the hamlet. In Nimar they generally
rented a little land in the village to give them a footing,
and paid also a carrying fee on the number of cattle present.
Their spare time was constantly occupied in the manufacture
of hempen twine and sacking, which was much superior to
that obtainable in towns. Even in Captain Forsyth's ^ time
(1866) the construction of raihvays and roads had seriously
interfered with the Banjaras' calling, and the}' had perforce
taken to agriculture. Many of them have settled in the
new ryotwari villages in Nimar as Government tenants.
They still grow tilW^ in preference to other crops, because
this oilseed can be raised without much labour or skill, and
during their former nomadic life they were accustomed to

* Monograph, p. 40. ^ Author of the Niutar Settlement Report.

2 Melia indica. ■* Sesatmiiu.

II SOCIAL CUSTOMS 187

sow it on any poor strip of land wliich they might rent for
a season. Some of them also are accustomed to leave a
part of tiieir holding untilled in memory of their former and
more prosperous life. In many villages they have not yet
built proper houses, but continue to live in mud huts
thatched with grass. They consider it unlucky to inhabit
a house with a cement or tiled roof; this being no doubt a
superstition arising from their camp life. Their houses
must also be built so that the main beams do not cross,
that is, the main beam of a house must never be in such a
position that if projected it would cut another main beam ;
but the beams may be parallel. The same rule probably
governed the arrangement of tents in their camps. In
Nimar they prefer to live at some distance from water,
probably that is of a tank or river ; and this seems to be
a survival of a usage mentioned by the Abbe Dubois : ^
" Among other curious customs of this odious caste is one
that obliges them to drink no water which is not drawn
from springs or wells. The water from rivers and tanks
being thus forbidden, they are obliged in case of necessity
to dig a little hole by the side of a tank or river and take
the water filtering through, which, by this means, is supposed
to become spring water." It is possible that this rule may
have had its origin in a sanitary precaution. Colonel
Sleeman notes ^ that the Banjaras on their carrying trips
preferred by-paths through jungles to the high roads along
cultivated plains, as grass, wood and water were more
abundant along such paths ; and when they could not avoid
the high roads, they commonly encamped as far as they
could from villages and towns, and upon the banks of rivers
and streams, with the same object of obtaining a sufficient
supply of grass, wood and water. Now it is well known
that the decaying vegetation in these hill streams renders
the water noxious and highly productive of malaria. And
it seems possible that the perception of this fact led the
Banjaras to dig shallow wells by the sides of the streams
for their drinking-water, so that the supply thus obtained
might be in some degree filtered by percolation through the

1 Hindu Manners^ Citsloms and - Report on the Badhak or Bagri

CercmoJiies, p. 21. Dacoits, p. 310.

1 88 BANJARA part

intervening soil and freed from its vegetable germs. And
the custom may have grown into a taboo, its underlying
reason being unknown to the bulk of them, and be still
practised, though no longer necessary when they do not
travel. If this explanation be correct it would be an
interesting conclusion that the Banjaras anticipated so far
as they were able the sanitary precaution by which our
soldiers are supplied with portable filters when on the
march.

Each kuri (hamlet) or tdnda (caravan) had a chief or
leader with the designation of Naik, a Telugu word meaning
' lord ' or ' master.' The office of Naik ^ was only partly
hereditary, and the choice also depended on ability. The
Naik had authority to decide all disputes in the communit}',
and the only appeal from him lay to the representatives of
Bhangi and Jhangi Naik's families at Narsi and Poona, and
to Burthia Naik's successors in the Telugu country. As
already seen, the Naik received two shares if he participated
in a robbery or other crime, and a fee on the remarriage of
a widow outside her family and on the discovery of a witch.
Another matter in which he was specially interested was
pig-sticking. The Banjaras have a particular breed of
dogs, and with these they were accustomed to hunt wild
pig on foot, carrying spears. When a pig was killed, the
head was cut off and presented to the Naik or head-
man, and if any man was injured or gored by the pig in
the hunt, the Naik kept and fed him without charge until
he recovered.

The following notice of the Banjaras and their dogs
may be reproduced : '" " They are brave and have the
reputation of great independence, which I am not disposed
to allow to them. The Wanjari indeed is insolent on the
road, and will drive his bullocks up against a Sahib or
any one else ; but at any disadvantage he is abject enough.
I remember one who rather enjoyed seeing his dogs attack
me, whom he supposed alone and unarmed, but the sight
of a cocked pistol made him very quick in calling them off,
and very humble in praying for their lives, which I spared,

' Colonel Mackenzie's notes.
- -Mr. W. !•'. Sinclair, C.S., in Ind. An/, iii. p. 1S4 {1S74).

II THK NAIK OR f / J'.A P M A N— HA NJ A RA DOGS 189

less for liis entreaties than because they were really noble
animals. The Wanjaris arc famous for their doi^s, of which
tiicre are three breeds. The first is a large, smooth dog,
generally black, sometimes fawn-coloured, with a square
heavy head, most resembling the Danish boarhound. This
is the true Wanjari dog. The second is also a large,
square-headed dog, but shaggy, more like a great underbred
spaniel than anything else. The third is an almost tailless
greyhound, of the type known all over India by the
various names of Lat, Polygar, Rampuri, etc. They all
run both by sight and scent, and with their help the
Wanjaris kill a good deal of game, chiefly pigs ; but I
think they usually keep clear of the old fighting boars.
Besides sport and their legitimate occupations the Wanjaris
seldom stickle at supplementing their resources by theft,
especially of cattle ; and they are more than suspected
of infanticide."

The Banjaras are credited with great affection for their
dogs, and the following legend is told about one of them :
Once upon a time a Banjara, who had a faithful dog, took a
loan from a Bania (moneylender) and pledged his dog with
him as security for payment. And some time afterwards,
while the dog was with the moneylender, a theft was com-
mitted in his house, and the dog followed the thieves and
saw them throw the property into a tank. When they
went away the dog brought the Bania to the tank and he
found his property. He was therefore very pleased with
the dog and wrote a letter to his master, saying that the
loan was repaid, and tied it round his neck and said to
him, * Now, go back to your master.' So the dog started
back, but on his way he met his master, the Banjara,
coming to the Bania with the money for the repayment
of the loan. And when the Banjara saw the dog he was
angry with him, not seeing the letter, and thinking he had
run away, and said to him, ' Why did you come, betraying
your trust ? ' and he killed the dog in a rage. And after
killing him he found the letter and was very grieved, so he
built a temple to the dog's memory, which is called the
Kukurra Mandhi. And in the temple is the image of a
dog. This temple is in the Drug District, five miles from

I go BANJARA part

Balod. A similar story is told of the temple of Kukurra
Math in Mandla.

The following notice of Banjara criminals is abstracted
from Major Gunthorpe's interesting account:^ "In the
palmy days of the tribe dacoities were undertaken on the
most extensive scale. Gangs of fifty to a hundred and fifty
well-armed men would go long distances from their tdndas
or encampments for the purpose of attacking houses in villages,
or treasure-parties or wealthy travellers on the high roads.
The more intimate knowledge which the police have obtained
concerning the habits of this race, and the detection and
punishment of many criminals through approvers, have aided
in stopping the heavy class of dacoities formerly prevalent,
and their operations are now on a much smaller scale. In
British territory arms are scarcely carried, but each man has
a good stout stick {gedi), the bark of which is peeled off so
as to make it look whitish and fresh. The attack is generally
commenced by stone -throwing and then a rush is made,
the sticks being freely used and the victims almost invariably
struck about the head or face. While plundering, Hindustani
is sometimes spoken, but as a rule they never utter a word,
but grunt signals to one another. Their loin-cloths are
braced up, nothing is worn on the upper part of the body,
and their faces are generally muffled. In house dacoities
men are posted at different corners of streets, each with a
supply of well-chosen round stones to keep off any people
coming to the rescue. Banjaras are very expert cattle-
lifters, sometimes taking as many as a hundred head or
even more at a time. This kind of robbery is usually
practised in hilly or forest country where the cattle are
sent to graze. Secreting themselves they watch for the
herdsman to have his usual midday doze and for the cattle
to stray to a little distance. As many as possible are
then driven off to a great distance and secreted in ravines
and woods. If questioned they answer that the animals
belong to landowners and have been given into their charge
to graze, and as this is done every day the questioner
thinks nothing more of it. After a time the cattle are

1 Azotes on Criminal Tribes frequenting Bombay^ Berar and the Central
Provinces (Bombay, 1882).

II TIU'.IR VIRTUES igi

quietly sold to individual purchasers or taken to markets
at a distance.

The Banjfiras, however, are far from being wholly 22. Their
criminal, and the number who have adopted an honest ^" "^^'
mode of livelihood is continually on the increase. Some
allowance must be made for their having been deprived of
their former calling by the cessation of the continual wars
which distracted India under native rule, and the extension
of roads and railways which has rendered their mode
of transport by pack - bullocks almost entirely obsolete.
At one time practically all the grain exported from
Chhattlsgarh was carried by them. In 1881 Mr. Kitts
noted that the number of Banjaras convicted in the Berar
criminal courts was lower in proportion to the strength of
the caste than that of Muhammadans, Brahmans, Koshtis
or Sunars,^ though the offences committed by them were
usually more heinous. Colonel Mackenzie had quite a
favourable opinion of them : " A Banjara who can read
and write is unknown. But their memories, from cultiva-
tion, are marvellous and very retentive. They carry in
their heads, without slip or mistake, the most varied and
complicated transactions and the share of each in such,
striking a debtor and creditor account as accurately as the
best -kept ledger, while their history and songs are all
learnt by heart and transmitted orally from generation to
generation. On the whole, and taken rightly in their
clannish nature, their virtues preponderate over their vices.
In the main they are truthful and very brave, be it in
war or the chase, and once gained over are faithful and
devoted adherents. With the pride of high descent and
with the right that might gives in unsettled and troublous
times, these Banjaras habitually lord it over and contemn
the settled inhabitants of the plains. And now not having
foreseen their own fate, or at least not timely having read
the warnings given by a yearly diminishing occupation,
which slowly has taken their bread away, it is a bitter pill
for them to sink into the ryot class or, oftener still, under
stern necessity to become the ryot's servant. But they
are settling to their fate, and the time must come when

' Berar Census Report (iSSi), p. 1 51.

192 BARAI PART

all their peculiar distinctive marks and traditions will be
forgotten."

I. Origin Barai/ Tamboli, Pansari. — The caste of growers and

^" J. . sellers of the betel-vine leaf The three terms are used

traditions.

indifferently for the caste in the Central Provinces, although
some shades of variation in the meaning can be detected even
here — Barai signifying especially one who grows the betel-
vine, and Tamboli the seller of the prepared leaf ; while
Pansari, though its etymological meaning is also a dealer in
pan or betel-vine leaves, is used rather in the general sense
of a druggist or grocer, and is apparently applied to the
Barai caste because its members commonly follow this
occupation. In Bengal, however, Barai and Tamboli are
distinct castes, the occupations of growing and selling the
betel-leaf being there separately practised. And they have
been shown as different castes in the India Census Tables of
1 90 1, though it is perhaps doubtful whether the distinction
holds good in northern India." In the Central Provinces
and Berar the Barais numbered nearly 60,000 persons in
191 I. They reside principally in the Amraoti, Buldana,
Nagpur, Wardha, Saugor and Jubbulpore Districts. The
betel-vine is grown principally in the northern Districts of
Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore and in those of Berar and
the Nagpur plain. It is noticeable also that the growers and
sellers of the betel-vine numbered only 14,000 in 191 1 out
of 33,000 actual workers of the Barai caste; so that the
majority of them are now employed in ordinary agriculture,
field-labour and other avocations. No very probable deriva-
tion has been obtained for the word Barai, unless it comes
from bdri, a hedge or enclosure, and simply means
' gardener.' Another derivation is from bardna, to avert
hailstorms, a calling which they still practise in northern
India. Pdn^ from the Sanskrit parna (leaf), is the leaf

1 This notice is compiled principally niukh, Deputy Inspector of Schools,

from a good paper by Mr. M. C. Nagpur.
Chatterji, retired Extra Assistant Com-
missioner, Jubbulpore, and from papers ^ %\\&xx\r\g^Hindii Tribes a7id Castes,

by Professor Sada Shiva Jai Ram, i. p. 330. Nesfield, B?-ief Viezv, p.

M.A., Government College, Jubbul- 15. N.M^.P. Cens2is ReJ>ort (i^gi),^^

pore, and Mr. Bhaskar Baji Rao Desh- 3 1 7.

II CAS'l'l'l SUIiDIVlSlONS 193

f^ar cxccllcna-. Ovviii^ to the fact that they produce what
is [)crhaps the most esteemed luxury in the diet of the
higher classes of native society, the Barais occupy a fairly
good social position, and one legend gives them a Ikahman
ancestry. This is to the effect that the first Barai was a
Brfdiman whom God detected in a flagrant case of lying
to his brother. His sacred thread was confiscated and
being planted in the ground grew up into the first betel-
vine, which he was set to tend. Another story of the
origin of the vine is given later in this article. In the
Central Provinces its cultivation has probably only flourished
to any appreciable extent for a period of about three
centuries, and the Barai caste would appear to be mainly
a functional one, made up of a number of immigrants from
northern India and of recruits from different classes of the
population, including a large proportion of the non-Aryan
element.

The following endogamous divisions of the caste have 2. Caste
been reported : Chaurasia, so called from the Chaurasi divisions
pargana of the Mirzapur District ; Panagaria from Panagar
in Jubbulpore ; Mahobia from Mahoba in Hamirpur ; Jaiswar
from the town of Jais in the Rai Bareli District of the United
Provinces ; Gangapari, coming from the further side of the
Ganges ; and Pardeshi or Deshwari, foreigners. The above
divisions all have territorial names, and these show that a
large proportion of the caste have come from northern India,
the different batches of immigrants forming separate endo-
gamous groups on their arrival here. Other subcastes are
the Dudh Barais, from dildh, milk ; the Kuman, said to be
Kunbis who have adopted this occupation and become Barais ;
the Jharia and Kosaria, the oldest or jungly Barais, and those
who live in Chhattlsgarh ; the Purania or old Barais ; the
Kumhardhang, who are said to be the descendants of a potter
on whose wheel a betel-vine grew ; and the Lahuri Sen, who
are a subcaste formed of the descendants of irregular unions.
None of the other subcastes will take food from these last,
and the name is locally derived from lahuri, lower, and se^i
or shreni, class. The caste is also divided into a large
number of exogamous groups or septs which may be classified
according to their names as territorial, titular and totemistic.

VOL. II O

194

BARAI

Examples of territorial names are : Kanaujia of Kanauj,
Burhanpuria of Burhanpur, Chitoria of Chitor in Rajputana,
Deobijha the name of a village in Chhattlsgarh, and Kha-
rondiha from Kharond or Kalahandi State. These names
must apparently have been adopted at random when a family
either settled in one of these places or removed from it to
another part of the country. Examples of titular names of
groups are : Pandit (priest), Bhandari (store-keeper), Patharha
(hail-averter), Batkaphor (pot-breaker), Bhulya (the forgetful
one), Gujar (a caste), Gahoi (a caste), and so on. While
the following are totemistic groups : Katara (dagger), Kulha
(jackal), Bandrele (monkey), Chlkhalkar (from cJiikhal, mud),
Richharia (bear), and others. Where the group is named
after another caste it probably indicates that a man of that
caste became a Barai and founded a family ; while the fact
that some groups are totemistic shows that a section of the
caste is recruited from the indigenous tribes. The large
variety of names discloses the diverse elements of which the
caste is made up.
3. Mar- Marriage within the gotra or exogamous group and within

riage. three degrees of relationship between persons connected
through females is prohibited. Girls are usually wedded
before adolescence, but no stigma attaches to the family if
they remain single beyond this period. If a girl is seduced
by a man of the caste she is married to him by the pat, a
simple ceremony used for widows. In the southern Districts
a barber cuts off a lock of her hair on the banks of a tank or
river by way of penalty, and a fast is also imposed on her,
while the caste-fellows exact a meal from her family. If she
has an illegitimate child, it is given away to somebody else, if
possible. A girl going wrong with an outsider is expelled
from the caste.

Polygamy is permitted and no stigma attaches to the
taking of a second wife, though it is rarely done except for
special family reasons. Among the Maratha Barais the bride
and bridegroom must walk five times round the marriage
altar and then worship the stone slab and roller used for
pounding spices. This seems to show that the trade of the
Pansari or druggist is recognised as being a proper avocation
of the Barai. They subsequently have to worship the potter's

II R I'll. I C,n)N AND SOCIAL STATUS 195

wheel. yVftcr the wedding the bride, if she is a child, goes
as usual to her husband's house for a few days. In Chhattis-
garh she is accompanied by a few relations, the party being
known as Chauthia, and during her stay in her husband's
house the bride is made to sleep on the ground. Widow
marriage is permitted, and the ceremony is conducted accord-
ing to the usage of the locality. In Betul the relatives of the
widow take the second husband before Maroti's shrine, where
he offers a nut and some betel-leaf. He is then taken to the
mrdguzar's house and presents to him Rs. 1-4-0, a cocoanut
and some betel-vine leaf as the price of his assent to the
marriage. If there is a Dcshmukh ^ of the village, a cocoanut
and betel-leaf are also given to him. The nut offered to
Maroti represents the deceased husband's spirit, and is sub-
sequently placed on a plank and kicked off by the new
bridegroom in token of his usurping the other's place,
and finally buried to lay the spirit. The property of the
first husband descends to his children, and failing them his
brother's children or collateral heirs take it before the widow.
A bachelor espousing a widow must first go through the
ceremony of marriage with a swallow-wort plant. When a
widower marries a girl a silver impression representing the
deceased first wife is made and worshipped daily with the
family gods. Divorce is permitted on sufficient grounds at
the instance of either party, being effected before the caste
committee or panchdyat. If a husband divorces his wife
merely on account of bad temper, he must maintain her so
long as she remains unmarried and continues to lead a
moral life.

The Barais especially venerate the Nag or cobra and 4^ Reii-
observe the festival of Nag-Panchmi (Cobra's fifth), in con- foc^af"
nection with which the following story is related. Formerly status.
there was no betel -vine on the earth. But when the five
Pandava brothers celebrated the great horse sacrifice after
their victory at Hastinapur, they wanted some, and so
messengers were sent down below the earth to the residence
of the queen of the serpents, in order to try and obtain it.
Basuki, the queen of the serpents, obligingly cut off the top

^ The name of a superior revenue officer under the Marathas, now borne
as a courtesy title by certain families.

196 BARAl PART

joint of her little finger and gave it to the messengers. This
was brought up and sown on the earth, and pan creepers grew
out of the joint. For this reason the betel-vine has no
blossoms or seeds, but the joints of the creepers are cut off
and sown, when they sprout afresh ; and the betel-vine is
called Nagbel or the serpent-creeper. On the day of Nag-
Panchmi the Barais go to the bareja with flowers, cocoanuts
and other offerings, and worship a stone which is placed in
it and which represents the Nag or cobra. A goat or sheep
is sacrificed and they return home, no leaf of the pan garden
being touched on that day. A cup of milk is also left, in
the belief that a cobra will come out of the pan garden and
drink it. The Barais say that members of their caste are
never bitten by cobras, though many of these snakes frequent
the gardens on account of the moist coolness and shade
which they afford. The Agarwala Banias, from whom the
Barais will take food cooked without water, have also a legend
of descent from a Naga or snake princess. ' Our mother's
house is of the race of the snake,' say the Agarwals of
Bihar.^ The caste usually burn the dead, with the ex-
ception of children and persons dying of leprosy or snake-
bite, whose bodies are buried. Mourning is observed for
ten days in the case of adults and for three days for
children. In Chhattlsgarh if any portion of the corpse
remains unburnt on the day following the cremation, the
relatives are penalised to the extent of an extra feast
to the caste-fellows. Children are named on the sixth
or twelfth day after birth either by a Brahman or by
the women of the household. Two names are given, one
for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use. When a
Brahman is engaged he gives seven names for a boy and
five for a girl, and the parents select one out of these.
The Barais do not admit outsiders into the caste, and
employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial purposes.
They are allowed to eat the flesh of clean animals, but
very rarely do so, and they abstain from liquor. Brahmans
will take sweets and water from them, and they occupy a
fairly good social position on account of the important
nature of their occupation.

^ Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Agarwal.

11 O ecu PA TION 197

" It has been mentioned," says Sir 1 1. Rislcy,' " that the s- Occupa-
garden is regarded as ahnost sacred, and the superstitious
practices in vogue resemble those of the silk-worm breeder.
The Bfirui will not enter it until he has bathed and washed
his clothes. Animals found inside are driven out, while
women ceremonially unclean dare not enter within the gate.
A Bnlhman never sets foot inside, and old men have a pre-
judice against entering it. It has, however, been known to
be used for assignations." The betel-vine is the leaf of Piper
betel L., the word being derived from the Malay alam vcttila,
' a plain leaf,' and coming to us through the Portuguese detre
and bet/e. The leaf is called pan, and is eaten with the nut
of Areca catechu, called in Hindi supari. The vine needs
careful cultivation, the gardens having to be covered to keep
off the heat of the sun, while liberal treatment with manure
and irrigation is needed. The joints of the creepers are
planted in February, and begin to supply leaves in about five
months' time. When the first creepers are stripped after a
period of nearly a year, they are cut off and fresh ones
appear, the plants being exhausted within a period of about
two years after the first sowing. A garden may cover from
half an acre to an acre of land, and belongs to a number of
growers, who act in partnership, each owning so many lines
of vines. The plain leaves are sold at from 2 annas to
4 annas a hundred, or a higher rate when they are out of
season. Damoh, Ramtek and Bilahri are three of the best-
known centres of cultivation in the Central Provinces. The
Bilahri leaf is described in the Ain-i-Akbari as follows :
" The leaf called Bilahri is white and shining, and does not
make the tongue harsh and hard. It tastes best of all kinds.
After it has been taken away from the creeper, it turns
white with some care after a month, or even after twenty
days, when greater efforts are made." ^ For retail sale btdas
are prepared, consisting of a rolled betel-leaf containing
areca-nut, catechu and lime, and fastened with a clove.
Musk and cardamoms are sometimes added. Tobacco
should be smoked after eating a bida according to the saying,

' Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. 72, quoted in Crooke's Tribes and
Barui. Castes, art. Tamboli.

^ Bloclimann, Ain-i-Ahbari, i. p.

198 BARAI PART 11

' Service without a patron, a young man without a shield,
and betel without tobacco are alike savourless.' Bidas are
sold at from two to four for a pice (farthing). Women of the
caste often retail them, and as many are good-looking they
secure more custom ; they are also said to have an indiffer-
ent reputation. Early in the morning, when they open their
shops, they burn some incense before the bamboo basket in
which the leaves are kept, to propitiate Lakshmi, the goddess
of wealth.

BARHAI

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. Sircngih iifid /oca! distribution. 4. lieligion.

2. Internal structure. 5. Social position.

3. Marriage customs. 6. Occupation.

Barhai, Sutar, Kharadi, Mistri.— The occupational i. strength
caste of carpenters. The Barhais numbered nearly 1 1 0,000 |^|!.'jribu^
persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 191 i, or tion.
about I in 150 persons. The caste is most numerous in
Districts with large towns, and few carpenters are to be
found in villages except in the richer and more advanced
Districts. Hitherto such woodwork as the villagers wanted
for agriculture has been made by the Lobar or blacksmith,
while the country cots, the only wooden article of furniture
in their houses, could be fashioned by their own hands or
by the Gond woodcutter. In the Mandla District the
Barhai caste counts only 300 persons, and about the same
in Balaghat, in Drug only 47 persons, and in the fourteen
Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, with a population of more
than two millions, only some 800 persons. The name
Barhai is said to be from the Sanskrit Vardhika and the
root vardh, to cut. Sutar is a common name of the caste
in the Maratha Districts, and is from Sutra-kara, one who
works by string, or a maker of string. The allusion may
be to the Barhai's use of string in planing or measuring
timber, or it may possibly indicate a transfer of occupation,
the Sutars having first been mainly string-makers and after-
wards abandoned this calling for that of the carpenter. The
first wooden implements and articles of furniture may have
been held together by string before nails came into use.
Kharadi is literally a turner, one who turns woodwork on

199

BARHAI

3. Mar-
riage
customs.

a lathe, from khaidt, a lathe. Mistri, a corruption of the
English Mister, is an honorific title for master carpenters.

The comparatively recent growth of the caste in these
Provinces is shown by its subdivisions. The principal sub-
castes of the Hindustani Districts are the Pardeshi or
foreigners, immigrants from northern India, and the Purbia
or eastern, coming from Oudh ; other subcastes are the Sri
Gaur Malas or immigrants from Malvva, the Beradi from
Berar, and the Mahure from Hyderabad. We find also
subcastes of Jat and Teli Barhais, consisting of Jats and
Telis (oil-pressers) who have taken to carpentering. Two
other caste-groups, the Chamar Barhais and Gondi Barhais,
are returned, but these are not at present included in
the Barhai caste, and consist merely of Chamars and
Gonds who work as carpenters but remain in their own
castes. In the course of some generations, however, if the
cohesive social force of the caste system continues un-
abated, these groups may probably find admission into the
Barhai caste. Colonel Tod notes that the progeny of one
Makiar, a prince of the Jadon Rajpiat house of Jaisalmer,
became carpenters, and were known centuries after as Makur
Sutars. They were apparently considered illegitimate, as
he states : " Illegitimate children can never overcome this
natural defect among the Rajputs. Thus we find among all
classes of artisans in India some of royal but spurious
descent." ^ The internal structure of the caste seems therefore
to indicate that it is largely of foreign origin and to a certain
degree of recent formation in these Provinces.

The caste are also divided into exogamous septs named
after villages. In some localities it is said that they have no
septs, but only surnames, and that people of the same surname
cannot intermarry. Well-to-do persons marry their daughters
before puberty and others when they can afford the expense
of the ceremony. Brahman priests are employed at weddings,
though on other occasions their services are occasionally dis-
pensed with. The wedding ceremony is of the type pre-
valent in the locality. When the wedding procession reaches
the bride's village it halts near the temple of Maroti or
Hanuman. Among the Panchfd Barhais the bridegroom does

' Kdjaslhdn, ii. p. 210.

II RELIGION- SOCIAL POSITION 201

not wear a marriage crown but tics a bunch of flowers to his
turban. The bridegroom's party is entertained for five days.
Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. In
most localities it is said that a widow is forbidden to marry
her first husband's younger as well as his elder brother.
Among the Pardeshi Barhais of Betul if a bachelor desires to
marry a widow he must first go through the ceremony with
a branch or twig of the gfi/ar tree.^

The caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, .4. kdi-
and venerate their trade implements on the Dasahra festival. ^'"""
They consider the sight of a mongoose and of a light-grey
pigeon or dove as lucky omens. They burn the dead and
throw the ashes into a river or tank, employing a Maha-
Brahman to receive the gifts for the dead.

In social status the Barhais rank with the higher artisan 5. Social
castes. Brahmans take water from them in some localities. Position.
perhaps more especially in towns. In Betul for instance
Hindustani Brahmans do not accept water from the rural
Barhais. In Damoh where both the Barhai and Lobar are
village menials, their status is said to be the same, and
Brahmans do not take water from Lobars. Mr. Nesfield
says that the Barhai is a village servant and ranks with the
Kurmi, with whom his interests are so closely allied. But
there seems no special reason why the interests of the
carpenter should be more closely allied with the cultivator
than those of any other village menial, and it may be offered
as a surmise that carpentering as a distinct trade is of
comparatively late origin, and was adopted by Kurmis, to
which fact the connection noticed by Mr. Nesfield might
be attributed ; hence the position of the Barhai among the
castes from whom a Brahman will take water. In some
localities well-to-do members of the caste have begun to
wear the sacred thread.

In the northern Districts and the cotton tract the Barhai 6. Occupa-
works as a village menial. He makes and mends the plough ^'°"'
and harrow {bakJiar) and other wooden implements of agri-
culture, and makes new ones when supplied with the wood.
In Wardha he receives an annual contribution of 100 lbs. of
grain from each cultivator. In Betul he gets Gj lbs. of grain

' FicHS glonierata.

202 BARI PART

and other perquisites for each plough of four bullocks. For
making carts and building or repairing houses he must be
separately paid. At weddings the Barhai often supplies the
sacred marriage-post and is given from four annas to a rupee.
At the Diwali festival he prepares a wooden peg about six
inches long, and drives it into the cultivator's house inside the
threshold, and receives half a pound to a pound of grain.

In cities the carpenters are rapidly acquiring an in-
creased degree of skill as the demand for a better class of
houses and furniture becomes continually greater and more
extensive. The carpenters have been taught to make English
furniture by such institutions as the Friends' Mission of
Hoshangabad and other missionaries ; and a Government
technical school has now been opened at Nagpur, in which
boys from all over the Province are trained in the profession.
Very little wood-carving with any pretensions to excellence
has hitherto been done in the Central Provinces, but the
Jain temples at Saugor and Khurai contain some fair wood-
work. A good carpenter in towns can earn from i 2 annas
to Rs. 1-8 a day, and both his earnings and prospects have
greatly improved within recent years. Sherring remarks of
the Barhais : " As artisans they exhibit little or no inventive
powers : but in imitating the workmanship of others they are
perhaps unsurpassed in the whole world. They are equally
clever in working from designs and models." ^

Bapi. — A caste of household servants and makers of
leaf-plates, belonging to northern India. The Baris num-
bered 1200 persons in the Central Provinces in 191 i,
residing mainly in Jubbulpore and Mandla. Sir H. Risley
remarks of the caste : ^ " Mr. Nesfield regards the Bari as
merely an offshoot from a semi -savage tribe known as
Banmanush and Musahar. He is said still to associate with
them at times, and if the demand for leaf-plates and cups,
owing to some temporary cause, such as a local fair or an
unusual multitude of marriages, happens to become larger
than he can at once supply, he gets them secretly made by
his ruder kinsfolk and retails them at a higher rate, passing

• ni)tdit Castes, i. p. 316.
'^ Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bari.

11 nARf 203

them off as his own production. The strictest IJrahmans,
those at least who aspire to imitate the self-denying life of
the ancient Indian hermit, never eat off any other plates
than those made of leaves." " If the above view is correct,"
Sir II. Risley remarks, " the Baris are a branch of a non-Aryan
tribe who have been given a fairly respectable position in the
social system in consequence of the demand for leaf-plates,
which are largely used by the highest as well as the lowest
castes. Instances of this sort, in which a non-Aryan or
mixed group is promoted on grounds of necessity or con-
venience to a higher status than their antecedents would
entitle them to claim, are not unknown in other castes, and
must have occurred frequently in outlying parts of the
country, where the Aryan settlements were scanty and
imperfectly supplied with the social apparatus demanded by
the theory of ceremonial purity." There is no reason why
the origin of the Bari from the Banmanush (wild man of the
woods) or Musahar (mouse-eater), a forest tribe, as suggested
by Mr. Nesfield from his observation of their mutual connec-
tion, should be questioned. The making of leaf-plates is an
avocation which may be considered naturally to pertain to
the tribes frequenting jungles from which the leaves are
gathered ; and in the Central Provinces, though in the north
the Nai or barber ostensibly supplies the leaf-plates, probably
buying the leaves and getting them made up by Gonds and
others, in the Maratha Districts the Gond himself does so,
and many Gonds make their living by this trade. The
people of the Maratha country are apparently less strict
than those of northern India, and do not object to eat off
plates avowedly the handiwork of Gonds. The fact that
the Bari has been raised to the position of a pure caste, so
that Brahmans will take water from his hands, is one among
several instances of this elevation of the rank of the serving
castes for purposes of convenience. The caste themselves
have the following legend of their origin : Once upon a time
Parmeshwar ^ was offering rice milk to the spirits of his
ancestors. In the course of this ceremony the performer has
to present a gift known as Vikraya Dan, which cannot be
accepted by others without loss of position. Parmeshwar

* Vishnu.

204 BA SDE WA part

offered the gift to various Brahmans, but they all refused it.
So he made a man of clay, and blew upon the image and
gave it life, and the god then asked the man whom he had
created to accept the gift which the Brahmans had refused.
This man, who was the first Bari, agreed on condition that
all men should drink with him and recognise his purity of
caste. Parmeshwar then told him to bring water in a cup,
and drank of it in the presence of all the castes. And in
consequence of this all the Hindus will take water from the
hands of a Bari. They also say that their first ancestor was
named Sundar on account of his personal beauty ; but if so,
he failed to bequeath this quality to his descendants. The
proper avocation of the Baris is, as already stated, the
manufacture of the leaf-cups and plates used by all Hindus
at festivals. In the Central Provinces these are made from
the large leaves of the mdJiul creeper {Bauhinia Vahlii), or
from the palds {Butea frondosa). The caste also act as
personal servants, handing round water, lighting and carry-
ing torches at marriages and other entertainments and on
journeys, and performing other functions. Some of them
have taken to agriculture. Their women act as maids to
high-caste Hindu ladies, and as they are always about the
zenana, are liable to lose their virtue. A curious custom
prevails in Marwar on the birth of an heir to the throne.
An impression of the child's foot is taken by a Bari on
cloth covered with saffron, and is exhibited to the native
chiefs, who make him rich presents.^ The Baris have the
reputation of great fidelity to their employers, and a
saying about them is, ' The Bari will die fighting for his
master.'

Basdewa,- Wasudeo, Harbola, Kaparia, Jag-a, Kapdi. —

A wandering beggar caste of mixed origin, who also
call themselves Sanadhya or Sanaurhia Brahmans. The
Basdewas trace their origin to Wasudeo, the father of
Krishna, and the term Basdewa is a corruption of Wasudeo
or Wasudeva. Kaparia is the name they bear in the

' Sherring, Tribes and Castes, i. papers by Mr. W. N. Maw, Deputy
pj). 403, 404. Commissioner, Damoh, and Murlidhar,

^ This article is compiled from MunsiCr of Kliurai in Saugor.

II BASDEWA 205

Antcrvcd or country between the Ganges and Jumna, whence
they claim to have come. Kaparia has been derived from
kapra, cloth, owing to the custom of the Basdewas of having
several dresses, which they change rapidly like the Bahrupia,
making themselves up in different characters as a show.
Harbola is an occupational term, applied to a class of
Basdewas who climb trees in the early morning and thence
vociferate praises of the deity in a loud voice. The name
is derived from Haj\ God, and bolna^ to speak. As the
1 larbolas wake people up in the morning they are also called
Jaga or Awakener. The number of ]?asdewas in the Central
Provinces and Berar in 191 i was 2500, and they are found
principally in the northern Districts and in Chhattlsgarh.
They have several territorial subcastes, as Gangaputri or
those who dwell on the banks of the Ganges ; Khaltia or
Deswari, those who belong to the Central Provinces ; Parauha,
from para, a male buffalo calf, being the dealers in buffaloes ;
Harbola or those who climb trees and sing the praises of
God ; and Wasudeo, the dwellers in the Maratha Districts
who marry only among themselves. The names of the
exogamous divisions are very varied, some being taken from
Brahman gotras and Rajput septs, while others are the
names of villages, or nicknames, or derived from animals
and plants. It may be concluded from these names that the
Basdewas are a mixed occupational group recruited from
high and low castes, though they themselves say that they
do not admit any outsiders except Brahmans into the
community. In Bombay ^ the Wasudevas have a special
connection with Kumhars or potters, whom they address by
the term of kdka or paternal uncle, and at whose houses
they lodge on their travels, presenting their host with the
two halves of a cocoanut. The caste do not observe celibacy.
A price of Rs. 25 has usually tO; be given for a bride, and a
Brahman is employed to perform the ceremony. At the
conclusion of this the Brahman invests the bridegroom with
a sacred thread, which he thereafter continues to wear.
Widow marriage is permitted, and widows are commonly
married to widowers. Divorce is also permitted. When a
man's wife dies he shaves his moustache and beard, if any,

^ Bombay Gazetteer, xvii. p. io8.

2o6 BASDEIVA part

in mourning and a fatlier likewise for a daughter-in-law ;
this is somewhat peculiar, as other Hindus do not shave
the moustache for a wife or daughter-in-law. The Basdewas
are wandering mendicants. In the Maratha Districts they
wear a plume of peacock's feathers, which they say was
given to them as a badge by Krishna. In Saugor and
Damoh instead of this they carry during the period from
Dasahra to the end of Magh or from September to January
a brass vessel called inatuk bound on their heads. It is
surmounted by a brass cone and adorned with mango-leaves,
cowries and a piece of red cloth, and with figures of Rama
and Lakshman. Their stock-in-trade for begging consists of
two kartdls or wooden clappers which are struck against
each other ; gimngrus or jingling ornaments for the feet,
worn when dancing ; and a paijna or kind of rattle, consist-
ing of two semicircular iron wires bound at each end to a
piece of wood with rings slung on to them ; this is simply
shaken in the hand and gives out a sound from the movement
of the rings against the wires. They worship all these
implements as well as their beggar's wallet on the Janam-
Ashtami or Krishna's birthday, the Dasahra, and the full moon
of Magh (January). They rise early and beg only in the
morning from about four till eight, and sing songs in praise
of Sarwan and Karan. Sarwan was a son renowned for his
filial piety ; he maintained and did service to his old blind
parents to the end of their lives, much against the will of his
wife, and was proof against all her machinations to induce
him to abandon them. Karan was a proverbially chari-
table king, and all his family had the same virtue. His
wife gave away daily rice and pulse to those who required
it, his daughter gave them clothes, his son distributed cows
as alms and his daughter-in-law cocoanuts. The king him-
self gave only gold, and it is related of him that he was
accustomed to expend a maund and a quarter '^ weight of
gold in alms-giving before he washed himself and paid his
morning devotions. Therefore the Basdewas sing that he
who gives early in the morning acquires the merit of Karan ;
and their presence at this time affords the requisite oppor-
tunity to anybody who may be desirous of emulating the

1 About lOO lbs.

M HAS /)E IV A 207

kinc^. At the end of every cou[)let they cry ' Jai Gan^a ' or
' liar Ganga,' invoking^ the Ganges.

The Harbolas have each a beat of a certain number of
villages which must not be infringed by the others. Their
method is to ascertain the name of some well-to-do jjcrson
in the village. This done, they climb a tree in the early
morning before sunrise, and continue chanting his praises in
a loud voice until he is sufficiently flattered by their eulogies
or wearied by their importunity to throw down a present of
a few pice under the tree, which the Harbola, descending,
appropriates. The Basdewas of the northern Districts are
now commonly engaged in the trade of buying and selling
buffaloes. They take the young male calves from Saugor
and Damoh to Chhattisgarh, and there retail them at a profit
for rice cultivation, driving them in large herds along the
road. For the capital which they have to borrow to make
their purchases, they are charged very high rates of interest.
The Basdewas have here a special veneration for the buffalo
as the animal from which they make their livelihood, and
they object strongly to the calves being taken to be tied out
as baits for tiger, refusing, it is said, to accept payment if the
calf should be killed. Their social status is not high, and
none but the lowest castes will take food from their hands.
They eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain from pork, fowls
and beef. Some of the caste have given up animal food.

BASOR

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1 . Numbers and distrlbuiion. 4. Marriage.

2. Caste traditions. 5. Religion and social status.

3. Subdivisions. 6. Occupation.

Basop,^ Bansphop, Dhulia, Bupud. — The occupational
caste of bamboo-workers, the two first names being Hindi
and the last the term used in the Maratha Districts. The
cognate Uriya caste is called Kandra and the Telugu one
Medara. The Basors numbered 53,000 persons in the
Central Provinces and Berar in 191 i. About half the total
number reside in the Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore
Districts. The word Basor is a corruption of Bansphor, ' a
breaker of bamboos.' Dhulia, from dholi, a drum, means a
musician.

The caste trace their origin from Raja Benu or Venu
who ruled at Singorgarh in Damoh. It is related of him
that he was so pious that he raised no taxes from his
subjects, but earned his livelihood by making and selling
bamboo fans. He could of course keep no army, but he
knew magic, and when he broke his fan the army of the
enemy broke up in unison. Venu is a Sanskrit word
meaning bamboo. But a mythological Sanskrit king called
Vena is mentioned in the Puranas, from whom for his sins
was born the first Nishada, the lowest of human beings, and
Manu ^ states that the bamboo -worker is the issue of a

' Compiled from papers by Mr. Ram Betul ; Mr. Keshava Rao, Headmaster,

Lai, B.A., De])Uty Inspector of Schools, Middle School, Seoni ; and Bapu Gulab

Saugor; Mr. Vishnu Gangadhar Gadgil, Singh, Superintendent, Land Records,

Tahslldar, Narsinghpur ; Mr. Devi Betul.

Dayal, Tahsildar, liatta ; Mr. Kanhya ^ Chapter x. 37, and Shudra Kani-

Lal, B. A., Deputy Inspector of Schools, lakar, p. 284.

I'ART II SUIiDIVlSJONS 209

Nishada or Chandal father and a Vaidcha ' mother. So
that the local story may be a corruption of the Brahmanical
tradition. Another legend relates that in the beginning there
were no bamboos, and the first Basor took the serpent which
Siva wore round his neck and going to a hill planted it with
its head in the ground, A bamboo at once sprang up on
the spot, and from this the liasor made the first winnowing
fan. And the snake-like root of the bamboo, which no doubt
suggested the story to its composer, is now adduced in proof
of it.

The Basors of the northern Districts are divided into a 3- •'^"•j-
number of subcastes, the principal of which are : the Purania '^''^'°" •
or Juthia, who perhaps represent the oldest section, Purania
being from purdna old ; they are called Juthia because they
eat the leavings of others ; the Barmaiya or Malaiya,
apparently a territorial group ; the Deshwari or Bundel-
khandi who reside in the desJi or native place of Bundel-
khand ; the Gudha or Gurha, the name being derived by
some from giida a pigsty ; the Dumar or Dom Basors ; the
Dhubela, perhaps from the Dhobi caste ; and the Dharkar.
Two or three of the above names appear to be those of
other low castes from which the Basor caste may have been
recruited, perhaps at times when a strong demand existed
for bamboo-workers. The Buruds do not appear to be
sufficiently numerous to have subcastes. But they include
a few Telenga Buruds who are really Medaras, and the caste
proper are therefore sometimes known as Maratha Buruds to
distinguish them from these. The caste has numerous bainks
or exogamous groups or septs, the names of which may chiefly
be classified as territorial and totemistic. Among the former
are Mahobia, from the town of Mahoba ; Sirmaiya, from
Sirmau ; Orahia, from Orai, the battlefield of the Banaphar
generals, Alha and Udal ; Tikarahia from Tikari, and so on.
The totemistic septs include the Sanpero from sdnp a snake,
the Mangrelo from mangra a crocodile, the Morya from inor
a peacock, the Titya from the titehri bird and the Sarkia
from sarki or red ochre, all of which worship their respective
totems. The Katarya or ' dagger ' sept worship a real or
painted dagger at their marriage, and the Kemia, a branch

* A Vaideha was the child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother.
VOL. II P

2IO BASOR PART

of the kem tree {Stephegyne parvifolid). The Bandrelo, from
bandar^ worship a painted monkey. One or two groups
are named after castes, as Bamhnelo from Brahman and
Bargujaria from Bargujar Rajput, thus indicating that
members of these castes became Basors and founded families.
One sept is called Marha from Marhai, the goddess of cholera,
and the members worship a picture of the goddess drawn in
black. The name of the Kulhantia sept means somersault,
and these turn a somersault before worshipping their gods.
So strong is the totemistic idea that some of the territorial
groups worship objects with similar names. Thus the
Mahobia group, whose name is undoubtedly derived from
the town of Mahoba, have adopted the mahua tree as their
totem, and digging a small hole in the ground place in it a
little water and the liquor made from mahua flowers, and
worship it. This represents the process of distillation of
country liquor. Similarly, the Orahia group, who derive
their name from the town of Orai, now worship the urai or
khaskhas grass, and the Tikarahia from Tikari worship a
tikli or glass spangle.
4. Mar- The marriage of persons belonging to the same haink or

nage. s^^X. and also that of first cousins is forbidden. The age of
marriage is settled by convenience, and no stigma attaches
to its postponement beyond adolescence. Intrigues of un-
married girls with men of their own or any higher caste are
usually overlooked. The ceremony follows the standard
Hindi and Marathi forms, and presents no special features.
A bride-price called chdri, amounting to seven or eight
rupees, is usually paid. In Betul the practice of lanijhana,
or serving the father-in-law for a term of years before
marrying his daughter, is sometimes followed. Widow-
marriage is permitted, and the widow is expected to wed her
late husband's younger brother. The Basors are musicians
by profession, but in Betul the narsingha, a peculiar kind of
crooked trumpet, is the only implement which may be played
at the marriage of a widow. A woman marrying a second
time forfeits all interest in the property of her late husband,
unless she is without issue and there are no near relatives of
her husband to take it. Divorce is effected by the breaking
of the woman's bangles in public. If obtained by the wife,

\ ■.''

(X)

, \.

II RELIGION AND SOCIAr. STATUS 211

she must repay to her first husband the expenditure incurred
by him for her marriage when she takes a second, liut the
acceptance of this payment is considered derogatory and the
husband refuses it unless he is poor.

The liasors worship the ordinary Hindu deities and also 5. Reii-
ghosts and spirits. Like the other low castes they entertain focfaf"
a special veneration for Devi. They profess to exorcise evil status.
spirits and the evil eye, and to cure other disorders and dis-
eases through the agency of their incantations and the goblins
who do their bidding. They burn their dead when they can
afford it and otherwise bury them, placing the corpse in the
grave with its head to the north. The body of a woman is
wrapped in a red shroud and that of a man in a white one.
They observe mourning for a period of three to ten days,
but in Jubbulpore it always ends with the fortnight in which
the death takes place ; so that a person dying on the 15 th
or 30th of the month is mourned only for one day. They
eat almost every kind of food, including beef, pork, fowls,
liquor and the leavings of others, but abjure crocodiles,
monkeys, snakes and rats. Many of them have now given
up eating cow's flesh in deference to Hindu feeling. They
will take food from almost any caste except sweepers, and
one or two others, as Joshi and Jasondhi, towards whom for
some unexplained reason they entertain a special aversion.
They will admit outsiders belonging to any caste from whom
they can take food into the community. They are generally
considered as impure, and live outside the village, and their
touch conveys pollution, more especially in the Maratha
Districts. The ordinary village menials, as the barber and
washerman, will not work for them, and services of this
nature are performed by men of their own community. As,
however, their occupation is not in itself unclean, they rank
above sweepers, Chamars and Dhobis. Temporary exclusion
from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and the almost
invariable penalty for readmission is a feast to the caste-
fellows. A person, male or female, who has been convicted
of adultery must have the head shaved, and is then seated
in the centre of the caste-fellows and pelted by them with
the leavings of their food. Basor women are not permitted
to wear nose-rings on pain of exclusion from caste.

212 BEDAR PART

6. Occupa- The trade of the Basors is a very essential one to the

^'°°- agricultural community. They make numerous kinds of

baskets, among which may be mentioned the chujika, a very
small one, the tokni, a basket of middle size, and the iokna,
a very large one. The dauri is a special basket with a
lining of matting for washing rice in a stream. The jhdnpi
is a round basket with a cover for holding clothes ; the
tipanna a small one in which girls keep dolls ; and the
bilahra a still smaller one for holding betel-leaf. Other
articles made from bamboo-bark are the chalni or sieve, the
khunkhwia or rattle, the bdnsuri or wooden flute, the bijna
or fan, and the supa or winnowing-fan. All grain is cleaned
with the help of the supa both on the threshing-floor and in
the house before consumption, and a child is always laid in
one as soon as it is born. In towns the Basors make the
bamboo matting which is so much used. The only imple-
ment they employ is the bdnka, a heavy curved knife, with
which all the above articles are made. The bdnka is duly
worshipped at the Diwali festival. The Basors are also the
village musicians, and a band of three or four of them play
at weddings and on other festive occasions. Some of them
work as pig-breeders and others are village watchmen. The
women often act as midwives. One subcaste, the Dumar,
will do scavenger's work, but they never take employment
as saises, because the touch of horse-dung is considered as a
pollution, entailing temporary excommunication from caste,

r. General BedaP.^ — A Small castc of about I 500 persons, belonging

notice. J.Q ^j^qI^^ Khandcsh and Hyderabad. Their ancestors were
J^indaris, apparently recruited from the different Maratha
castes, and when the Pindaris were suppressed they obtained
or were awarded land in the localities where they now
reside, and took to cultivation. The more respectable
Bedars say that their ancestors were Tirole Kunbis, but
when Tipu Sultan invaded the Carnatic he took many of
them prisoners and ordered them to become Muhammadans.
In order to please him they took food with Muhammadans,

1 Based on a paper by Rao Sahib Mr. Adiiriim Chaudhri of the Gazetteer
Dhonduji, retired Inspector of Police, office.
Akola, and information collected by

II SUIiDJVJSIONS AND MARRIAC.E CUSTOMS 213

and on this account the Kunbis i)ut them out of caste until
they should purify themselves. But as there were a lar^^e
number of them, they did not do this, and have remained a
separate caste. The real derivation of the name is unknown,
but the caste say that it is be-dar or ' without fear,' and was
i^iven to them on account of their bravery. They have now
obtained a warrant from the descendant of Shankar Acharya,
or the high priest of Sivite Hindus, permitting them to
describe themselves as Put Kunbi or purified Kunbi.^ The
community is clearly of a most mixed nature, as there are
also Dher or Mahar Bedars. They refuse to take food from
other Mahars and consider themselves defiled by their touch.
The social position of the caste also presents some peculiar
features. Several of them have taken service in the army
and police, and have risen to the rank of native officer ; and
Rao Sahib Dhonduji, a retired Inspector of Police, is a
prominent member of the caste. The Raja of Surpur, near
Raichur, is also said to be a Bedar, while others are ministerial
officials occupying a respectable position. Yet of the Bedars
generally it is said that they cannot draw water freely from
the public wells, and in Nasik Bedar constables are not con-
sidered suitable for ordinary duty, as people object to their
entering houses. The caste must therefore apparently have
higher and lower groups, differing considerably in position.

They have three subdivisions, the Maratha, Telugu and 2. Sub-
Kande Bedars. The names of their exogamous sections are anT'°"^
also Marathi. Nevertheless they retain one or two northern marriage
customs, presumably acquired from association with the ^^^ °"^^'
Pindaris. Their women do not tuck the body-cloth in
behind the waist, but draw it over the right shoulder. They
wear the choli or Hindustani breast-cloth tied in front, and
have a hooped silver ornament on the top of the head, which
is known as dJwra. They eat goats, fowls and the flesh of
the wild pig, and drink liquor, and will take food from a
Kunbi or a Phulmali, and pay little heed to the rules of
social impurity. But Hindustani Brahmans act as their
priests.

Before a wedding they call a Brahman and worship him
as a god, the ceremony being known as Deo Brahman. The

' Mr. Marten's C.P. Census Report (19 11), p. 212.

rites.

214 BEDAR PART II

Brahman then cooks food in the house of his host. On the
same occasion a person specially nominated by the Brahman,
and known as Deokia, fetches an earthen vessel from the
potter, and this is worshipped with offerings of turmeric and
rice, and a cotton thread is tied round it. Formerly it is
said they worshipped the spent bullets picked up after a
battle, and especially any which had been extracted from the
body of a wounded person.
3. Funeral When a man is about to die they take him down from

his cot and lay him on the ground with his head in the lap
of a relative. The dead are buried, a person of importance
being carried to the grave in a sitting posture, while others
are laid out in the ordinary manner. A woman is buried in
a green cloth and a breast-cloth. When the corpse has been
prepared for the funeral they take some liquor, and after a
few drops have been poured into the mouth of the corpse the
assembled persons drink the rest. While following to the
grave they beat drums and play on musical instruments and
sing religious songs ; and if a man dies during the night,
since he is not buried till the morning, they sit in the house
playing and singing for the remaining hours of darkness.
The object of this custom must presumably be to keep away
evil spirits. After the funeral each man places a leafy branch
of some tree or shrub on the grave, and on the thirteenth
day they put food before a cow and also throw some on to
the roof of the house as a portion for the crows.

BELDAR

list of paragraphs

1. General notice. 4. Other ChJiattlsgarhi Belddrs.

2. Belddrs of the nor titer n Dis- 5. MunurwCir a7td Telenga.

tricts. 6. Vaddar.

3. Odias of ChhattlsgarJi. 7. Pdthrot.

8. Takdri.

Beldar/ Od, Sonkar, Raj, Larhia, Karigar, Matkuda,
Chunkar, Munurwar, Thapatkari, Vaddar, Pathrot,
Takari. — The term Beldar is generically applied to a number
of occupational groups of more or less diverse origin, who
work as masons or navvies, build the earthen embankments
of tanks or fields, carry lime and bricks and in former times
refined salt. Beldar means one who carries a bel^ a hoe or
mattock. In 191 i a total of 25,000 Beldars were returned
from the Central Provinces, being most numerous in the
Nimar, Wardha, Nagpur, Chanda and Raipur districts.
The Nunia, Murha and Sansia (Uriya) castes, which have
been treated in separate articles, are also frequently known as
Beldar, and cannot be clearly distinguished from the main
caste. If they are all classed together the total of the earth-
and stone- working castes comes to 35,000 persons.

It is probable that the bulk of the Beldars and allied
castes are derived from the non-Aryan tribes. The Murhas
or navvies of the northern Districts appear to be an offshoot
of the Bind tribe ; the people known as Matkuda (earth-
digger) are usually Gonds or Pardhans ; the Sansias and
Larhias or Uriyas of Chhattlsgarh and the Uriya country
seem to have originated from the Kol, Bhuiya and Oraon

1 This article is based on papers by Raipur, and Munshi Kanhiya Lai, of
Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S., Mr. Khande the Gazetteer office.
Rao, Superintendent of Land Records,

215

2l6

BELDAR

tribes, the Kols especially making excellent diggers and
masons ; the Oddes or Vaddars of Madras are a' very low
caste, and some of their customs point to a similar origin,
though the Munurwar masons of Chanda appear to have
belonged originally to the Kapu caste of cultivators.

The term Raj, which is also used for the Beldars in the
northern Districts, has the distinctive meaning of a mason,
while Chunkar signifies a lime-burner. The Sonkars were
formerly occupied in Saugor in carrying lime, bricks and
earth on donkeys, but they have now abandoned this calling
in Chhattlsgarh and taken to growing vegetables, and have
been given a short separate notice. In Hoshangabad some
Muhammadan Beldars are now also found.

The Beldars of Saugor say that their ancestors were
engaged in refining salt from earth. A divine saint named
Nona Rlshi {non, salt) came down on earth, and while
cooking his food mixed some saline soil with it. The bread
tasted much better in consequence, and he made the earth
into a ball or goli and taught his followers to extract the
salt from it, whence their descendants are known as Goli
Beldars. The customs of these Beldars are of the ordinary
low-caste type. The wedding procession is accompanied
by drums, fireworks and, if means permit, a nautch-girl.
If a man puts away his wife without adequate cause the
caste panchdyat may compel him to support her so long as
she remains of good conduct. The party seeking a divorce,
whether husband or wife, has to pay Rs. y to the caste
committee and the other partner Rs. 3, irrespective of where
the blame rests, and each remains out of caste until he or
she pays.

These Beldars will not take food from any caste but
their own, and will not take water from a Brahman, though
they will accept it from Kurmis, Gujars and similar castes.
Sir H. Risley notes that their women always remove earth
in baskets on the head. " The Beldars regard this mode of
carrying earth as distinctive of themselves, and will on no
account transport it in baskets slung from the shoulders.
They work very hard when paid by the piece, and are
notorious for their skill in manipulating the pillars {sdkhi^
witness) left to mark work done, so as to exaggerate the

1 1 on I A s oh~ ciiUA I rise A i<ii 2 1 7

measurement. On one occasion while working for mc on a
large lake at Govindpur, in the north of the Manbhum
District, a number of l^eldars transplanted an entire pillar
during the night and claimed payment for several thousand
feet of imaginary earthwork. The fraud was most skilfully
carried out, and was only detected by accident." ^ The
Beldars are often dishonest in their dealings, and will take
large advances for a tank or embankment, and then abscond
with the money without doing the work. During the open
season parties of the caste travel about in camp looking for
work, their furniture being loaded on donkeys. They carry
grain in earthen pots encased in bags of netting, neatly and
closely woven, and grind their wheat daily in a small mill
set on a goat-skin. Butter is made in one of their pots with
a churning-stick, consisting of a cogged wheel fixed on to
the end of a wooden rod.

The Beldars of ChhattTsgarh are divided into the Odia 3. Odias of
or Uriya, Larhia, Kuchbandhia, Matkuda and Karigar j^^
groups. Uriya and Larhia are local names, applied to
residents of the Uriya country and ChhattTsgarh respectively.
Odia is the name of a low Madras caste of masons, but
whether it is a corruption of Uriya is not clear. Karigar
means a workman, and Kuchbandhia is the name of a
separate caste, who make loom-combs for weavers. The
Odias pretend to be fallen Rajputs. They say that when
Indra stole the sacrificial horse of Raja Sagar and kept it
in the underworld, the Raja's thousand sons dug great holes
through the earth to get it. Finally they arrived at the
underworld and were all reduced to ashes by the Rishi
Kapil Muni, who dwelt there. Their ghosts besought him
for life, and he said that their descendants should always
continue to dig holes in the earth, which would be used as
tanks ; and that whenever a tank was dug by them, and its
marriage celebrated with a sacrifice, the savour of the sacrifice
would descend to the ghosts and would afford them sus-
tenance. The Odias say that they are the descendants of
the Raja's sons, and unless a tank is dug and its marriage
celebrated by them it remains impure. These Odias have
their tutelary deity in Rewah State, and at his shrine is

1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Beldar.

2l8

BELDAR

PART

a flag which none but an Odia of genuine descent from
Raja Sagar's sons can touch without some injury befalling
him. If any Beldar therefore claims to belong to their caste
they call on him to touch the flag, and if he does so with
impunity they acknowledge him as a brother.

The other groups of Chhattisgarhi Beldars are of lower
status, and clearly derived from the non-Aryan tribes.
They eat pigs, and at intervals of two or three years they
celebrate the worship of Gosain Deo with a sacrifice of pigs,
the deity being apparently a deified ascetic or mendicant.
On this occasion the Dhlmars, Gonds, and all other castes
which eat pig's flesh join in the sacrifice, and consume the
meat together after the fashion of the rice at Jagannath's
temple, which all castes may eat together without becoming
impure. These Beldars use asses for the transport of their
bricks and stones, and on the Diwali day they place a lamp
before the ass and pay reverence to it. They say that at
their marriages a bride-price of Rs. loo or Rs. 200 must
always be paid, but they are allowed to give one or two
donkeys and value them at Rs. 50 apiece. They make
grindstones {chakki), combs for straightening the threads on
the loom, and frames for stretching the threads. These
frames are called dongi, and are made either wholly or
partly from the horns of animals, a fact which no doubt
renders them impure.

In Chanda the principal castes of stone-workers are the
Telengas (Telugus), who are also known as Thapatkari
(tapper or chiseller), Telenga Kunbi and Munurwar. They
occupy a higher position than the ordinary Beldar, and
Kunbis will take water from them and sometimes food.
They say that they came into Chanda from the Telugu
country along the Godavari and Pranhita rivers to build
the great wall of Chanda and the palaces and tombs of
the Gond kings. There is no reason to doubt that the
Munurwars are a branch of the Kapu cultivating caste of the
Telugu country. Mr. A. K. Smith states that they refuse
to eat the flesh of an animal which has been skinned by a
Mahar, a Chamar, or a Gond ; the Kunbis and Marathas
also consider flesh touched by a Mahar or Chamar to be
impure, but do not object to a Gond. Like the Berar

II VAPDAK 219

Kuiibis, the Telengas prefer that an animal should be killed
by the rite of haldl as practised by Muhamnaadan butchers.
The reason no doubt is that the haldl is a method of
sacrificial slaughter, and the killing of the animal is legiti-
mised even though by the ritual of a foreign religion. The
Thapatkaris appear to be a separate group, and their original
profession was to collect and retail jungle fruits and roots
having medicinal properties. Though the majority have
become stone- and earth-workers some of them still do this.

The Vaddars or Wadewars are a branch of the Odde 6. Vaddar.
caste of Madras. They are almost an impure caste, and a
section of them are professional criminals. Their women
wear glass bangles only on the left arm, those on the right
arm being made of brass or other metal. This rule has no
doubt been introduced because glass bangles would get
broken when they were supporting loads on the head.
The men often wear an iron bangle on the left wrist,
which they say keeps off the lightning. Mr. Thurston
states that " Women who have had seven husbands are
much respected among the Oddes, and their blessing on
a bridal pair is greatly prized. They" work in gangs on
contract, and every one, except very old and very young,
shares in the labour. The women carry the earth in
baskets, while the men use the pick and spade. The babies
are usually tied up in cloths, which are suspended, hammock-
fashion, from the boughs of trees. A woman found guilty of
immorality is said to have to carry a basketful of earth from
house to house before she is readmitted to the caste. The
stone-cutting Vaddars are the principal criminals, and by going
about under the pretence of mending grindstones they obtain
much useful information as to the houses to be looted or
parties of travellers to be attacked. In committing a highway
robbery or dacoity they are always armed with stout sticks." ^

In Berar besides the regular Beldars two castes of stone- 7. Pathrot.
workers are found, the Pathrawats or Pathrots (stone-breakers)
and the Takaris, who should perhaps be classed as separate
castes. Both make and sharpen millstones and grindstones,
and they are probably only occupational groups of recent
formation. The Takaris are connected with the Pardhi caste
1 The Castes and Tribes of Southern India, art. Odde.

220 BERT A PART

of professional hunters and fowlers and may be a branch of
them. The social customs of the Pathrots resemble those
of the Kunbis. " They will take cooked food from a Sutar
or a Kumbhar. Imprisonment, the killing of a cow or
criminal intimacy of a man with a woman of another caste
is punished by temporary outcasting, readmission involving
a fine of Rs. 4 or Rs. 5. Their chief deity is the Devi of
Tuljapur and their chief festival Dasahra ; the implements
of the caste are worshipped twice a year, on Gudhi Padwa
and Diwali. Women are tattooed with a crescent between
the eyebrows and dots on the right side of the nose, the
right cheek, and the chin, and a basil plant or peacock is
drawn on their wrists." ^
8. Takari. " The Takaris take their name from the verb tdkne, to

reset or rechisel. They mend the handmills {chakkis) used
for grinding corn, an occupation which is sometimes shared
with them by the Langoti Pardhis. The Takari's avocation
of chiselling grindstones gives him excellent opportunities
for examining the interior economy of houses, and the posi-
tion of boxes and cupboards, and for gauging the wealth
of the inmates. They are the most inveterate house-breakers
and dangerous criminals. A form of crime favoured by
the Takari, in common with many other criminal classes, is
that of decoying into a secluded spot outside the village
the would-be receiver of stolen property and robbing him
ot his cash — a trick which carries a wholesome lesson with
it." ^ The chisel with which they chip the grindstones
furnishes, as stated by Mr. D. A. Smyth, D.S.P., an excel-
lent implement for breaking a hole through the mud wall
of a house.

Beria, Bedia.

[Bibliography. Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal ; Rajendra Lai
Mitra in Memoirs, Anthropological Society of London, iii. p. 122; Mr. Crooke's
Tribes and Castes of the A^orth- IVestern Provinces and Oudh ; Mr. Kennedy's
Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency ; Major Gunthorpe's Criminal
Tribes ; Mr. Gayer's Lectures on some Criininal Tribes of the Central Pro-
vinces ; Colonel Sleeman's Report on the Badhak or Bdgri Dacoits.']

I. nistori- A caste of gipsies and thieves who are closely con-

cai notice, nccted with the Sansias. In 1891 they numbered 906

1 Akola District Gazetteer (Mr. C. ^ Ai?vaoti District Gazetteer (Messrs.

Brown), pp. 132, 133. Nelson and Fitzgerald), p. 146.

II BERIA 221

persons in the Central Provinces, distributed over the
northern Districts ; in 1 90 1 they were not separately
classified but were identified with the Nats. " They say
that some generations ago two brothers resided in the
Bhartpur territory, of whom one was named Sains Mul and
the other Mullanur. The descendants of Sains Mul are the
Sansias and those of Mullanur the Berias or Kolhatis, who
are vagrants and robbers by hereditary profession, living in
tents or huts of matting, like Nats or other vagrant tribes,
and having their women in common without any marriage
ceremonies or ties whatsoever. Among themselves or their
relatives the Sansias or descendants of Sains Mul, they are
called Dholi or Kolhati. The descendants of the brothers
cat, drink and smoke together, and join in robberies, but
never intermarry." So Colonel Sleeman wrote in 1849,
and other authorities agree on the close connection or identity
of the Berias and Sansias of Central India. The Kolhatis
belong mainly to the Deccan and are apparently a branch
of the Berias, named after the Kolhdn or long pole with
which they perform acrobatic feats. The Berias of Central
India differ in many respects from those of Bengal. Here
Sir H, Risley considers Beria to be ' the generic name of a
number of vagrant, gipsy-like groups ' ; and a full descrip-
tion of them has been given by Babu Rajendra Lai Mitra,
who considers them to resemble the gipsies of Europe.
" They are noted for a light, elastic, wiry make, very uncom-
mon in the people of this country. In agility and hardness
they stand unrivalled. The men are of a brownish colour,
like the bulk of Bengalis, but never black. The women are
of lighter complexion and generally well-formed ; some of
them have considerable claims to beauty, and for a race so
rude and primitive in their habits as the Berias, there is a
sharpness in the features of their women which we see in no
other aboriginal race in India. Like the gipsies of Europe
they are noted for the symmetry of their limbs ; but their
offensive habits, dirty clothing and filthy professions
give them a repulsive appearance, which is heightened
by the reputation they have of kidnapping children and
frequenting burial-grounds and places of cremation. . . .
Familiar with the use of bows and arrows and great adepts in

222 BERIA PART

laying snares and traps, they are seldom without large supplies
of game and flesh of wild animals of all kinds. They keep
the dried bodies of a variety of birds for medical purposes ;
mongoose, squirrels and flying-foxes they eat with avidity as
articles of luxury. Spirituous liquors and intoxicating drugs
are indulged in to a large extent, and chiefs of clans assume
the title of Bhangi or drinkers of hemp ibJidng) as a
mark of honour. ... In lying, thieving and knavery the
Beria is not a whit inferior to his brother gipsy of Europe.
The Beria woman deals in charms for exorcising the
devil and palmistry is her special vocation. She also carries
with her a bundle of herbs and other real or pretended
charms against sickness of body or mind ; and she is
much sought after by village maidens for the sake of the
philtre with which she restores to them their estranged
lovers ; while she foretells the date when absent friends
will return and the sex of unborn children. They practise
cupping with buffalo horns, pretend to extract worms from
decayed teeth and are commonly employed as tattooers.
At home the Beria woman makes mats of palm-leaves,
while her lord alone cooks. . . . Beria women are even
more circumspect than European gipsies. If a wife does
not return before the jackal's cry is heard in the evening, she
is subject to severe punishment. It is said that a faux pas
among her own kindred is not considered reprehensible ;
but it is certain that no Berini has ever been known to be
at fault with any one not of her own caste." This last state-
ment is not a little astonishing, inasmuch as in Central
India and in Bundelkhand Berni is an equivalent term
for a prostitute. A similar diversity of conjugal morality
has been noticed between the Bagris of northern India and
the Vaghris of Gujarat.^
2. Criminal ^^ Other rcspects also the Berias of Bengal appear to

tendencies ^e morc respectable than the remainder of the caste, obtain-
Centrai i"g thcir livelihood by means which, if disreputable, are not
Provinces, actually dishonest ; while in Central India the women Berias
are prostitutes and the men house-breakers and thieves.
These latter are so closely connected with the Sansias that
the account of that caste is also applicable to the Berias.

' See article on Badhak.

customs.

11 SOCIAL CUSTOMS 223

In Jubbulporc, Mr. Gayer states, tlic caste are expert house-
breakers, bold and daring, and sometimes armed with swords
and matchlocks. They sew up stolen property in their bed-
quilts and secrete it in the hollow legs of their sleeping-cots,
and the women habitually conceal jewels and even coins in
the natural passages of the body, in which they make special
saos or receptacles by practice. The Beria women go about
begging, and often break open the doors of unoccupied
houses in the daytime and steal anything they can find.!
Both Sansia and Beria women wear a laong or clove in the
left nostril.

As already stated, the women are professional prostitutes, 3. Social
but these do not marry, and on arrival at maturity they
choose the life which they prefer. Mr. Crooke states," how-
ever, that regular marriages seldom occur among them,
because nearly all the girls are reserved for prostitution,
and the men keep concubines drawn from any fairly respect-
able caste. So far is this the rule that in some localities if
a man marries a girl of the tribe he is put out of caste or
obliged to pay a fine to the tribal council. This last rule
does not seem to obtain in the Central Provinces, but
marriages are uncommon. In a colony of Berias in Jubbul-
pore ^ numbering sixty families it was stated that only eight
weddings could be remembered as having occurred in the
last fifty years. The boys therefore have to obtain wives as
best they can ; sometimes orphan girls from other castes
are taken into the community, or any outsider is picked up.
For a bride from the caste itself a sum of Rs. 100 is usually
demanded, and the same has to be paid by a Beria man
who takes a wife from the Nat or Kanjar castes, as is some-
times done. When a match is proposed they ask the
expectant bridegroom how many thefts he has committed
without detection ; and if his performances have been
inadequate they refuse to give him the girl on the ground
that he will be unable to support a wife. At the betrothal
the boy's parents go to the girl's house, taking with them a
potful of liquor round which a silver ring is placed and a

1 Kennedy, p. 247. from a note by Mr. K. N. Date,

2 Crooke, art. Beria. Deputy Superintendent, Reformatory
^ The following particulars are taken School, Jubbulpore.

224 BERIA PART II

pig. The ring is given to the girl and the head of the pig
to her father, while the liquor and the body of the pig
provide a feast for the caste. They consult Brahmans at
their birth and marriage ceremonies. Their principal deities
appear to be their ancestors, whom they worship on the
same day of the month and year as that on which their
death took place. They make an offering of a pig to the
goddess Dadaju or Devi before starting on their annual
predatory excursions. Some rice is thrown into the animal's
ear before it is killed, and the direction in which it turns its
head is selected as the one divinely indicated for their route.
Prostitution is naturally not regarded as any disgrace, and
the women who have selected this profession mix on perfectly
equal terms with those who are married. They occupy, in
fact, a more independent position, as they dispose absolutely
of their own earnings and property, and on their death it
devolves on their daughters or other female relatives, males
having no claim to it, in some localities at least. Among
the children of married couples daughters inherit equally
with sons. A prostitute is regarded as the head of the
family so far as her children are concerned. Outsiders are
freely admitted into the caste on giving a feast to the
community. In Saugor the women of the caste, known as
Berni, are the village dancing-girls, and are employed to
give performances in the cold weather, especially at the
Holi festival, where they dance the whole night through,
fortified by continuous potations of liquor. This dance is
called rai, and is accompanied by most obscene songs and
gestures.

BHAINA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. TJie ifibe derived from the 4. Marriage.

Baigas. 5. Religious superstitio7is.

2. Closely connected with the 6. Admission of outsiders ajid

Kawars. caste offences.

3. Internal structure. Totem ism. 7. Social customs.

Bhaina.^ — A primitive tribe peculiar to the Central i- The
Provinces and found principally in the Bilaspur District and derived
the adjoining area, that is, in the wild tract of forest country f'om the
between the Satpura range and the south of the Chota ^'^^^'
Nagpur plateau. In 191 1 about 17,000 members of the
tribe were returned. The tribe is of mixed descent and
appears to have been derived principally from the Baigas
and Kawars, having probably served as a city of refuge to
persons expelled from these and other tribes and the lower
castes for irregular sexual relations. Their connection with
the Baigas is shown by the fact that in Mandla the Baigas
have two subdivisions, which are known as Rai or Raj-
Bhaina, and Kath, or catechu-making Bhaina. The name
therefore would appear to have originated with the Baiga
tribe, A Bhaina is also not infrequently found to be
employed in the office of village priest and magician, which
goes by the name of Baiga in Bilaspur. And a Bhaina has
the same reputation as a Baiga for sorcery, it being said
of him —

Mainhar ki manjh

Bhaina ki pang

1 This article is based principally by Mr. Syed Sher Ali, Naib-Tahsildar,
on a paper by Panna Lai, Revenue Mr. Hira Lai and Mr. Aduram Chaud-
Inspector, Bilaspur, and also on papers hri of the Gazetteer office.

VOL. II 225 Q

226 B HA IN A PART

or ' The magic of a Bhaina is as deadly as the powdered
maiftkdr fruit,' this fruit having the property of stupefying
fish when thrown into the water, so that they can easily be
caught. This reputation simply arises from the fact that in
his capacity of village priest the Bhaina performs the various
magical devices which lay the ghosts of the dead, protect
the village against tigers, ensure the prosperity of the crops
and so on. But it is always the older residents of any
locality who are employed by later comers in this office,
because they are considered to have a more intimate acquaint-
ance with the local deities. And consequently we are
entitled to assume that the Bhainas are older residents of
the country where they are found than their neighbours, the
Gonds and Kawars. There is other evidence to the same
effect ; for instance, the oldest forts in Bilaspur are attributed
to the Bhainas, and a chief of this tribe is remembered as
having ruled in Bilaigarh ; they are also said to have been
dominant in Pendra, where they are still most numerous,
though the estate is now held by a Kawar ; and it is related
that the Bhainas were expelled from Phuljhar in Raipur by
the Gonds. Phuljhar is believed to be a Gond State of long
standing, and the Raja of Raigarh and others claim to be
descended from its ruling family. A manuscript history of
the Phuljhar chiefs records that that country was held by
a Bhaina king when the Gonds invaded it, coming from
Chanda. The Bhaina with his soldiers took refuge in a
hollow underground chamber with two exits. But the secret
of this was betrayed to the Gonds by an old Gond woman,
and they filled up the openings of the chamber with grass
and burnt the Bhainas to death. On this account the tribe
will not enter Phuljhar territory to this day, and say that it
is death to a Bhaina to do so. The Binjhwars are also said
to have been dominant in the hills to the east of Raipur
District, and they too are a civilised branch of the Baigas.
And in all this area the village priest is commonly known
as Baiga, the deduction from which is, as already stated, that
the Baigas were the oldest residents.^ It seems a legitimate
conclusion, therefore, that prior to the immigration of the

* For the meaning of the term Baiga and its application to the tribe, see also
article on Bhuiya.

11 CLOSELY CONNECTED W/77/ /'//E K A WARS 227

Gonds and Kawars, the ancient Baiga tribe was spread
over the whole hill country east and north of the Mahanadi
basin.

The Bhainas are also closely connected with the Kawars, =■ cioseiy
who still own many large estates in the hills north of Bilas- wTtirthe
pur. It is said that formerly the Bhainas and Kawars both Kawars.
ate in common and intermarried, but at present, though the
Bhainas still eat rice boiled in water from the Kawars, the
latter do not reciprocate. But still, when a Kawar is cele-
brating a birth, marriage or death in his family, or when he
takes in hand to make a tank, he will first give food to a
Bhaina before his own caste-men eat. And it may safely
be assumed that this is a recognition of the Bhaina's position
as having once been lord of the land. A Kawar may still
be admitted into the Bhaina community, and it is said that
the reason of the rupture of the former equal relations
between the two tribes was the disgust felt by the Kawars
for the rude and uncouth behaviour of the Bhainas. For
on one occasion a Kawar went to ask for a Bhaina girl in
marriage, and, as the men of the family were away, the
women undertook to entertain him. And as the Bhainas
had no axes, the daughter proceeded to crack the sticks on
her head for kindling a fire, and for grass she pulled out
a wisp of thatch from the roof and broke it over her thigh,
being unable to chop it. This so offended the delicate
susceptibilities of the Kawar that he went away without
waiting for his meal, and from that time the Kawars ceased
to marry with the Bhainas. It seems possible that the
story points to the period when the primitive Bhainas and
Baigas did not know the use of iron and to the introduction
of this metal by the later-coming Kawars and Gonds. It
is further related that when a Kawar is going to make a
ceremonial visit he likes always to take with him two or
three Bhainas, who are considered as his retainers, though
not being so in fact. This enhances his importance, and it
is also said that the stupidity of the Bhainas acts as a foil,
through which the superior intelligence of the Kawar is made
more apparent. All these details point to the same con-
clusion that the primitive Bhainas first held the country and
were supplanted by the more civilised Kawars, and bears

structure :
Totemism.

228 BHAINA PART

out the theory that the settlement of the Munda tribes was
prior to those of the Dravidian family.
3. Internal The tribe has two subdivisions of a territorial nature,

Laria or Chhattlsgarhi, and Uriya. The Uriya Bhainas
will accept food cooked without water from the Sawaras
or Saonrs, and these also from them ; so that they have
probably intermarried. Two other subdivisions recorded
are the Jhalyara and Ghantyara or Ghatyara ; the former
being so called because they live in jJidlas or leaf huts in
the forest, and the latter, it is said, because they tie a glianta
or bell to their doors. This, however, seems very im-
probable. Another theory is that the word is derived from
ghdt^ a slope or descent, and refers to a method which the
tribe have of tattooing themselves with a pattern of lines
known as gJidt. Or it is said to mean a low or despised
section. The Jhalyara and Ghatyara divisions comprise
the less civilised portion of the tribe, who still live in the
forests ; and they are looked down on by the Uriya and
Laria sections, who belong to the open country. The
exogamous divisions of the tribe show clearly enough that
the Bhainas, like other subject races, have quite failed to
preserve any purity of blood. Among the names of their
gots or septs are Dhobia (a washerman), Ahera (cowherd),
Gond, Mallin (gardener), Panika (from a Panka or Ganda)
and others. The members of such septs pay respect to
any man belonging to the caste after which they are named
and avoid picking a quarrel with him. They also worship
the family gods of this caste. The tribe have also a number
of totem septs, named after animals or plants. Such are
Nag the cobra, Bagh the tiger, Chitwa the leopard, Gidha
the vulture, Besra the hawk, Bendra the monkey, Kok or
Lodha the wild dog, Bataria the quail, Durgachhia the
black ant, and so on. Members of a sept will not injure
the animal after which it is named, and if they see the
corpse of the animal or hear of its death, they throw away
an earthen cooking -pot and bathe and shave themselves
as for one of the family. Members of the Baghchhal or
tiger sept will, however, join in a beat for tiger though they
are reluctant to do so. At weddings the Bhainas have a
ceremony known as the goU-a worship. The bride's father

II MARRrACK 229

makes an image in clay of the bird or animal of the groom's
sept and places it beside the marriage-post. The bride-
groom worships the image, lighting a sacrificial fire before
it, and offers to it the vermilion which he afterwards smears
upon the forehead of the bride. At the bridegroom's house
a similar image is made of the bride's totem, and on return-
ing there after the wedding she worships this. Women
are often tattooed with representations of their totem
animal, and men swear by it as their most sacred oath. A
similar respect is paid to the inanimate objects after which
certain septs are named. Thus members of the Gawad or
cowdung sept will not burn cowdung cakes for fuel ; and
those of the Mircha sept do not use chillies. One sept is
named after the sun, and when an eclipse occurs these
perform the same formal rites of mourning as the others
do on the death of their totem animal. Some of the groups
have two divisions, male and female, which practically rank as
separate septs. Instances of these are the Nagbans Andura
and the Nagbans Mai or male and female cobra septs ;
the Karsayal Singhara and Karsayal Mundi or stag and doe
deer septs ; and the Baghchhal Andura and Baghchhal Mai
or tiger and tigress septs. These may simply be instances
of subdivisions arising owing to the boundaries of the sept
having become too large for convenience.

The tribe consider that a boy should be married when 4. Mar-
he has learnt to drive the plough, and a girl when she is "^^^"
able to manage her household affairs. When a father can
afford a bride for his son, he and his relatives go to the
girl's village, taking with them ten or fifteen cakes of bread
and a bottle of liquor. He stays with some relative and
sends to ask the girl's father if he will give his daughter to
the inquirer's son. If the former agrees, the bread and
liquor are sent over to him, and he drinks three cups of the
spirit as a pledge of the betrothal, the remainder being
distributed to the company. This is known as Tatia
kJiobia or ' the opening of the door,' and is followed some
days afterwards by a similar ceremonial which constitutes
the regular betrothal. On this occasion the father agrees
to marry his daughter within a year and demands the bride-
price, which consists of rice, cloth, a goat and other articles,

230 B HA IN A PART

the total value being about five rupees. A date is next
fixed for the wedding, the day selected being usually a
Monday or Friday, but no date or month is forbidden. The
number of days to the wedding are then counted, and two
knotted strings are given to each party, with a knot for
each day up to that on which the anointings with oil and
turmeric will commence at the bridegroom's and bride's
houses. Every day one knot is untied at each house up to
that on which the ceremonies begin, and thus the correct
date for them is known. The invitations to the wedding
are given by distributing rice coloured yellow with turmeric
to all members of the caste in the locality, with the intima-
tion that the wedding procession will start on a certain day
and that they will be pleased to attend. During the four
days that they are being anointed the bride and bridegroom
dance at their respective houses to the accompaniment of
drums and other instruments. For the wedding ceremony
a number of Hindu rites have been adopted. The eldest
sister of the bridegroom or bride is known as the sawdsin
and her husband as the sawdsa, and these persons seem to
act as the representatives of the bridal couple throughout
the marriage and to receive all presents on their behalf.
The custom is almost universal among the Hindus, and it
is possible that they are intended to act as substitutes and
to receive any strokes of evil fortune which may befall the
bridal pair at a season at which they are peculiarly liable to
it. The couple go round the sacred post, and afterwards
the bridegroom daubs the bride's forehead with red lead
seven times and covers her head with her cloth to show
that she has become a married woman. After the wedding
the bridegroom's parents say to him, " Now your parents
have done everything they could for you, and you must
manage your own house." The expenditure on an average
wedding is about fifteen or twenty rupees. A widow is
usually taken in marriage by her late husband's younger
brother or Dewar, or by one of his relatives. If she marries
an outsider, the Dewar realises twelve rupees from him in
compensation for her loss. But if there is no Dewar this
sum is not payable to her first husband's elder brother or
her own father, because they could not have married her

II RELIGIOUS SUPERSririONS 231

and hence arc not held to be injured by a stranger doing

so. If a woman is divorced and another man wishes to

marry her, he must make a similar payment of twelve rupees

to the first husband, together with a goat and liquor for

the penal feast. The Bhainas bury or burn the dead

according as their means permit.

Their principal deit)^ in Bilaspur is Nakti Devi ^ or the s- i<t;i'-

' Noseless Goddess.' For her ritual rice is placed on a suuersti-

square of the floor washed with cowdung, and ghl or tio"s.

preserved butter is poured on it and burnt. A hen is made

to eat the rice, and then its head is cut off and laid on the

square. The liver is burnt on the fire as an offering to the

deity and the head and body of the animal are then eaten.

After the death of a man a cock is offered to Nakti Devi

and a hen after that of a woman. The fowl is made to

pick rice first in the yard of the house, then on the threshold,

and lastly inside the house. Thakur Deo is the deity of

cultivation and is worshipped on the day before the autumn

crops are sown. On this day all the men in the village go

to his shrine taking a measure of rice and a ploughshare.

At the same time the Baiga or village priest goes and bathes

in the tank and is afterwards carried to the assembly on a

man's shoulders. Here he makes an offering and repeats a

charm, and then kneeling down strikes the earth seven times

with the ploughshare, and sows five handfuls of rice,

sprinkling water over the seed. After him the villagers

walk seven times round the altar of the god in pairs, one

man turning up the earth with the ploughshare and the

other sowing and watering the seed. While this is going

on the Baiga sits with his face covered with a piece

of cloth, and at the end the villagers salute the Baiga

and go home. When a man wishes to do an injury

to another he makes an image of him with clay and

daubs it with vermilion and worships it with an offering

of a goat or a fowl and liquor. Then he prays the

image that his enemy may die. Another way of injuring

an enemy is to take rice coloured with turmeric, and after

1 It is or was, of course, a common application of the epithet to the goddess

practice for a husband to cut off his should he taken to imply anything

wife's nose if he suspected her of being against her moral character is not

unfaithful to him. But whether the known.

BHAINA

muttering charms throw it in the direction in which the
enemy hves.

Outsiders are not usually admitted, but if a Bhaina
forms a connection with a woman of another tribe, they
will admit the children of such a union, though not the
woman herself. For they say : ' The seed is ours and what
matters the field on which it was sown.' But a man of the
Kawar tribe having intimacy with a Bhaina woman may
be taken into the community. He must wait for three
or four months after the matter becomes known and will
beg for admission and offer to give the penalty feast. A
day is fixed for this and invitations are sent to members of
the caste. On the appointed day the women of the tribe
cook rice, pulse, goat's flesh and urad cakes fried in oil, and
in the evening the people assemble and drink liquor and
then go to take their food. The candidate for admission
serves water to the men and his prospective wife to the
women, both being then permitted to take food with the
tribe. Next morning the people come again and the woman
is dressed in a white cloth with bangles. The couple stand
together supported by their brother-in-law and sister-in-law
respectively, and turmeric dissolved in water is poured over
their heads. They are now considered to be married and
go round together and give the salutation or Johar to the
people, touching the feet of those who are entitled to this
mark of respect, and kissing the others. Among the offences
for which a man is temporarily put out of caste is getting the
ear torn either accidentally or otherwise, being beaten by a
man of very low caste, growing san-hemp {Crotalaria junced),
rearing tasar silk-worms or getting maggots in a wound.
This last is almost as serious an offence as killing a cow, and,
in both cases, before an offender can be reinstated he must kill
a fowl and swallow a drop or two of its blood with turmeric.
Women commonly get the lobe of the ear torn through the
heavy ear-rings which they wear ; and in a squabble another
woman will often seize the ear-ring maliciously in order to
tear the ear. A woman injured in this way is put out of caste
for a year in Janjgir. To grow turmeric or garlic is also
an offence against caste, but a man is permitted to do this for
his own use and not for sale. A man who gets leprosy is

M SOCIAL CUSTOMS 233

said to be permanently expelled from caste. The purifica-
tion of delinquents is conducted by members of the Sonwani
(gold-water) and Patel (headman) septs, whose business it
is to give the offender water to drink in which gold has been
dipped and to take over the burden of his sins by first eating
food with him. But others say that the Ilathi or elephant sept
is the highest, and to its members are delegated these duties.
And in Janjgir again the president of the committee gives the
gold-water, and is hence known as Sonwan ; and this office
must always be held by a man of the l^andar or monkey sept.

The Bhainas are a comparatively civilised tribe and have 7- Social
largely adopted Hindu usages. They employ Brahmans to
fix auspicious days for their ceremonies, though not to officiate
at them. They live principally in the open country and are
engaged in agriculture, though very iew of them hold land
and the bulk are farm-labourers. They now disclaim any
connection with the primitive Baigas, who still prefer the
forests. But their caste mark, a symbol which may be
affixed to documents in place of a signature or used for a
brand on cattle, is a bow, and this shows that they retain
the recollection of hunting as their traditional occupation.
Like the Baigas, the tribe have forgotten their native
dialect and now speak bad Hindi. They will eat pork and
rats, and almost anything else they can get, eschewing only
beef But in their intercourse with other castes they are
absurdly strict, and will take boiled rice only from a Kawar,
or from a Brahman if it is cooked in a brass and not in an
earthen vessel, and this only from a male and not from a
female Brahman ; while they will accept baked cJiapdtis and
other food from a Gond and a Rawat. But in Sambalpur
they will take this from a Savar and not from a Gond.
They rank below the Gonds, Kawars and Savars or Saonrs.
Women are tattooed with a representation of their sept totem ;
and on the knees and ankles they have some figures of lines
which are known as ghats. These they say will enable
them to climb the mountains leading to heaven in the other
world, while those who have not such marks will be pierced
with spears on their way up the ascent. It has already been
suggested that these marks may have given rise to the name
of the Ghatyara division of the tribe.

234 BHAMTA or BHAMTYA part

I. Occupa- Bhamta or Bhamtya.^ — A caste numbering 4000

tion. persons in the Central Provinces, nearly all of whom

reside in the Wardha, Nagpur and Chanda Districts of
the Nagpur Division. The Bhamtas are also found in
Bombay, Berar and Hyderabad. In Bombay they are
known by the names of Uchla or ' Lifter ' and Gantha-
chor or ' Bundle-thief,' "^ The Bhamtas were and still are
notorious thieves, but many of the caste are now engaged
in the cultivation of hemp, from which they make ropes,
mats and gunny-bags. Formerly it was said in Wardha
that a Bhamta girl would not marry unless her suitor had
been arrested not less than fourteen times by the police,
when she considered that he had qualified as a man.
The following description of their methods does not
necessarily apply to the whole caste, though the bulk of
them are believed to have criminal tendencies. But some
colonies of Bhamtas who have taken to the manufacture
of sacking and gunny-bags from hemp-fibre may perhaps
be excepted. They steal only during the daytime, and
divide that part of the Province which they frequent into
regular beats or ranges. They adopt many disguises.
Even in their own cottages one dresses as a Marwari
Bania, another as a Gujarat Jain, a third as a Brahman
and a fourth as a Rajput. They keep to some particular
disguise for years and often travel hundreds of miles, enter-
ing and stealing from the houses of the classes of persons
whose dress they adopt, or taking service with a merchant
or trader, and having gained their employer's confidence,
seizing an opportunity to abscond with some valuable
property. Sometimes two or three Bhamtas visit a large
fair, and one of them dressed as a Brahman mingles with
the crowd of bathers and worshippers. The false Brahman
notices some ornament deposited by a bather, and while
himself entering the water and repeating sacred verses,
watches his opportunity and spreads out his cloth near
the ornament, which he then catches with his toes, and drag-
ging it with him to a distance as he walks away buries

' This article is mainly compiled ^ Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell),

from a paper by Pyare Lai Misra, xviii. p. 464.
Ethnographic Clerk.

II occur A rioN 235

it in the sand. The accomplices meanwhile loiter near,
and when the owner discovers his loss the Brahman
sympathises with him and points out the accomplices as
likely thieves, thus diverting suspicion from himself. The
victim follows the accomplices, who make off, and the real
thief meanwhile digs the ornament out of the sand and
escapes at his leisure. Women often tie their ornaments
in bundles at such bathing-fairs, and in that case two
Bhamtas will go up to her, one on each side, and while
one distracts her attention the other makes off with the
bundle and buries it in the sand. A Bhamta rarely retains
the stolen property on his person while there is a chance
of his being searched, and is therefore not detected. They
show considerable loyalty to one another, and never steal
from or give information against a member of the caste.
If stolen property is found in a Bhamta's house, and it has
merely been deposited there for security, the real thief comes
forward. An escaped prisoner does not come back to his
friends lest he should get them into trouble. A Bhamta
is never guilty of house-breaking or gang- robbery, and if
he takes part in this offence he is put out of caste. He
does not steal from the body of a person asleep. He
is, however, expert at the theft of ornaments from the
person. He never steals from a house in his own village,
and the villagers frequently share directly or indirectly in
his gains. The Bhamtas are now expert railway thieves.^
Two of them will get into a carriage, and, engaging the other
passengers in conversation, find out where they are going,
so as to know the time available for action. When it
gets dark and the travellers go to sleep, one of the Bhamtas
lies down on the floor and covers himself with a large cloth.
He begins feeling some bag under the seat, and if he cannot
open it with his hands, takes from his mouth the small curved
knife which all Bhamtas carry concealed between their gum
and upper lip, and with this he rips up the seams of the bag
and takes out what he finds ; or they exchange bags, accord-
ing to a favourite device of English railway thieves, and then
quickly either leave the train or get into another carriage.

1 The following particulars are taken from Colonel Portman's Report on the
Bhamtas of the Deccan (Bombay, 1887).

236

BHAMTA OR BHAMTYA

If attention is aroused they throw the stolen property out of
the window, marking the place and afterwards going back to
recover it. Another device is to split open and pick the
pockets of people in a crowd. Besides the knife they often
have a needle and thread and an iron nut-cutter.

Members of other castes, as Chhatri, Kanjar, Rawat and
others, who have taken to stealing, are frequently known as
Bhamtas, but unless they have been specially initiated do
not belong to the caste. The Bhamtas proper have two
main divisions, the Chhatri Bhamtas, who are usually immi-
grants from Gujarat, and those of the Maratha country, who
are often known as Bhamtis. The former have a dialect
which is a mixture of Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, while
the latter speak the local form of Marathi. The sections
of the Chhatri Bhamtas are named after Rajput septs, as
Badgujar, Chauhan, Gahlot, Bhatti, Kachhwaha and others.
They may be partly of Rajput descent, as they have regular
and pleasing features and a fair complexion, and are well
built and sturdy. The sections of the Bhamtis are called
by Maratha surnames, as Gudekar, Kaothi, Bailkhade,
Satbhaia and others. The Chhatri Bhamtas have northern
customs, and the Bhamtis those of the Maratha country.
Marriage between persons of the same gotra or surname
is prohibited. The Chhatris avoid marriage between rela-
tions having a common greatgrandparent, but among the
Bhamtis the custom of Mehunchar is prevalent, by which
the brother's daughter is married to the sister's son. Girls
are usually married at ten and eleven years of age or later.
The betrothal and marriage customs of the two subcastes
differ, the Chhatris following the ceremonial of the northern
Districts and the Bhamtis that of the Maratha country.
The Chhatris do not pay a bride-price, but the Bhamtis
usually do. Widow -marriage is allowed, and while the
Chhatris expect the widow to marry her deceased husband's
brother, the Bhamtis do not permit this. Among both
subdivisions a price is paid for the widow to her parents.
Divorce is only permitted for immoral conduct on the part
of the wife. A divorced woman may remarry after giving
a feast to the caste panchdyat or committee, and obtaining
their consent.

II RIUJGION AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS lyj

The goddess Devi is the tutelary deity of the caste, as 3- ^di-
of all those who ply a disreputable profession. Animals are sociLr"
sacrificed to her or let loose to wander in her name. The tustoms.
offerings are appropriated by the village washerman. In
Bombay the rendezvous of the Bhamtis is the temple of Devi
at Konali, in Akalkot State, near Sholapur, and here the
gangs frequently assemble before and after their raids to ask
the goddess that luck may attend them and to thank her for
success obtained.^ They worship their rope-making imple-
ments on the Dasahra day. They both bury and burn
the dead. Ghosts and spirits are worshipped. If a man
takes a second wife after the death of his first, the new
wife wears a putli or image of the first wife on a piece of
silver on her neck, and offers it the Jioni sacrifice by placing
some ghl on the fire before taking a meal. In cases of
doubt and difficulty she often consults the putli by speak-
ing to it, while any chance stir of the image due to the
movement of her body is interpreted as approval or dis-
approval. In the Central Provinces the Bhamtis say that
they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but this is
almost certainly untrue. In Bombay they are said to
admit all Hindus^ except the very lowest castes, and
also Muhammadans. The candidate must pass through
the two ceremonies of admission into the caste and adop-
tion into a particular family. For the first he pays an
admission fee, is bathed and dressed in new clothes, and
one of the elders drops turmeric and sugar into his mouth.
A feast follows, during which some elders of the caste eat
out of the same plate with him. This completes the admis-
sion ceremony, but in order to marry in the caste a candidate
must also be adopted into a particular family. The Bhamta
who has agreed to adopt him invites the caste people to his
house, and there takes the candidate on his knee while the
guests drop turmeric and sugar into his mouth. The Bham-
tas eat fish and fowl but not pork or beef, and drink liquor.
This last practice is, however, frequently made a caste offence
by the Bhamtis. They take cooked food from Brahmans
and Kunbis and water from Gonds. The keeping of con-
cubines is also an offence entailing temporary excommuni-

1 Portman, loc. cit. ^ Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), xviii. p. 465.

notice,

238 BHARBHUNJA part

cation. The morality of the caste is somewhat low and
their women are addicted to prostitution. The occupation
of the Bhamta is also looked down on, and it is said,
BJidinta ka kdm sub se iiikdiii, or ' The Bhamta's work is
the worst of all.' This may apply either to his habits of
stealing or to the fact that he supplies a bier made of twine
and bamboo sticks at a death. In Bombay the showy dress
of the Bhamta is proverbial. Women are tattooed before
marriage on the forehead and lower lip, and on other parts
of the body for purposes of adornment. The men have the
head shaved for three inches above the top of the forehead
in front and an inch higher behind, and they wear the scalp-
lock much thicker than Brahmans do. They usually have
red head-cloths.

General Bhapbhunja.^ — The occupational caste of grain-parchers.

The name is derived from the Sanskrit hJirdstra, a frying-pan,
and bhdrjaka, one who fries. The Bharbhunjas numbered
3000 persons in 191 i, and belong mainly to the northern
Districts, their headquarters being in Upper India. In
Chhattlsgarh the place of the Bharbhunjas is taken by the
Dhuris. Sir H. Elliot " remarks that the caste are tradition-
ally supposed to be descended from a Kahar father and
a Sudra mother, and they are probably connected with the
Kahars. In Saugor they say that their ancestors were
Kankubja Brahmans who were ordered to parch rice at the
wedding of the great Rama, and in consequence of this one
of their subcastes is known as Kanbajia. But Kankubja is
one of the commonest names of subcastes among the people
of northern India, and merely indicates that the bearers
belong to the tract round the old city of Kanauj ; and there
is no reason to suppose that it means anything more in the
case of the Bharbhunjas. Another group are called Kaitha,
and they say that their ancestors were Kayasths, who adopted
the profession of grain-parching. It is said that in Bhopal
proper Kayasths will take food from Kaitha Bharbhunjas
and smoke from their huqqa ; and it is noticeable that in

' This article contains some informa- Saugor.
tion from a paper by Mr. Gopal Par- ^ Memoirs of the Races of the

manand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, N. W.P. vol. i. p. 35.

II SOCIAL CUSTOMS 239

northern India Mr. Crooke gives ^ not only the Kaitha sub-
caste, but other groups called Saksena and Srivastab, which
arc the names of well-known Kayasth subdivisions. It is
possible, therefore, that the Kaitha group may really be
connected with the Kayasths. Other subcastes are the
Benglah, who are probably immigrants from Bengal ; and
the Kandu, who may also come from that direction, Kandu
being the name of the corresponding caste of grain-parchers
in Bengal.

The social customs of tlxp Bharbhunjas resemble those 2. Social
of Hindustani castes of fairly good position." They employ ^"^'°"'^-
Brahmans for their ceremonies, and the family priest receives
five rupees for officiating at a wedding, three rupees for a
funeral, one rupee for a birth, and four annas on ordinary
occasions. No price is paid for a bride, and at their
marriages the greater part of the expense falls on the girl's
father, who has to give three feasts as against two provided
by the bridegroom's father. After the wedding the bride-
groom's father puts on women's clothes given by the bride's
father and dances before the family. Rose-coloured water
and powder are sprinkled over the guests and the proceeding
is known as Phag, because it is considered to have the same
significance as the Holi festival observed in Phagun. This
is usually done on the bank of a river or in some garden
outside the village. At the gauna or going-away ceremony
the bride and bridegroom take their seats on two wooden
boards and then change places. Divorce and the remarriage
of widows are permitted. The union of a widow with
her deceased husband's younger brother is considered a
suitable match, but is not compulsory. When a bachelor
marries a widow, he first goes through the proper ceremony
either with a stick or an ear-ring, and is then united to the
widow by the simple ritual employed for widow remarriage.
A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste may be
married to him as if she were a widow, but if her lover is
an outsider she is permanently expelled from the caste.

The Bharbhunjas occupy a fairly high social position, 3. Occupa-
tion.

^ Tribes and Castes, art. Bhar- mainder of this section is taken from
bhunja. ]Mr. Gopal Parmanand's notes.

2 See article on Kurmi. The re-

240 BHARBHUNJA part

analogous to that of the Barais, Kahars and other serving
castes, the explanation being that all Hindus require the grain
parched by them ; this, as it is not cooked with water, may
be eaten abroad, on a journey or in the market-place. This
is known as pakki food, and even Brahmans will take it from
their hands. But Mr. Crooke notes ^ that the work they do,
and particularly the sweeping up of dry leaves for fuel, tends
to lower them in the popular estimation, and it is a favourite
curse to wish of an enemy that he may some day come to
stoke the kiln of a grain-parcher. Of their occupation Sir
H. Risley states that " Throughout the caste the actual work
of parching grain is usually left to the women. The process
is a simple one. A clay oven is built, somewhat in the
shape of a bee-hive, with ten or twelve round holes at the
top. A fire is lighted under it and broken earthen pots
containing sand are put on the holes. The grain to be
parched is thrown in with the sand and stirred with a flat
piece of wood or a broom until it is ready. The sand and
parched grain are then placed in a sieve, through which the
former escapes. The wages of the parcher are a proportion
of the grain, varying from one-eighth to one-fourth. In Bengal
the caste was spoken of by early English travellers under the
quaint name of the frymen." " In the Central Provinces also
grain-parching is distinctly a woman's industry, only twenty-
two per cent of those shown as working at it being men.
There are two classes of tradesmen, those who simply keep
ovens and parch grain which is brought to them, and those
who keep the grain and sell it ready parched. The rates for
parching are a pice a seer or an eighth part of the grain.
Gram and rice, husked or unhusked, are the grains usually
parched. When parched, gram is called phutdna (broken)
and rice Idhi. The Bharbhunjas also prepare sathu, a flour
made by grinding parched gram or wheat, which is a
favourite food for a light morning meal, or for travellers. It
can be taken without preparation, being simply mixed with
water and a little salt or sugar. The following story is told
about sathii to emphasise its convenience in this respect.
Once two travellers were about to take some food before

' Ibidem.
- Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kandu.

II OCCUPAT/ON 241

starting in the morning, of whom one had satku and the other
dhdn (unhusked rice). The one with the dhdn knew that it
would take him a long time to pound, and then cook and
eat it, so he said to the other, " My poor friend, I perceive
that you only have sathu, which will delay you because you
must find water, and then mix it, and find salt, and put it in,
before your sat/m can be ready, while rice — pound, eat and
go. But if you like, as you are in a greater hurry than I
am, I will change my rice for your sathu." The other
traveller unsuspectingly consented, thinking he was getting
the best of the bargain, and while he was still looking for
a mortar in which to pound his rice, the first traveller had
mixed and eaten the sathu and proceeded on his journey.
In the vernacular the point is brought out by the onoma-
topoeic character of the lines, which cannot be rendered in
English, The caste are now also engaged in selling tobacco
and sweetmeats and the manufacture of fireworks. They
stoke their ovens with any refuse they can collect from the
roads, and hence comes the saying, ' Bhdr inen ddlnal ' To
throw into the oven,' meaning to throw away something or
to make ducks and drakes with it ; while Bhdr-jhokna sig-
nifies to light or heat the oven, and, figuratively, to take up
a mean occupation (Platts). Another proverb quoted by
Mr. Crooke is, ^ Bharbhunja ka larki kesar ka tikal or ' The
Bharbhunja's slut with saffron on her forehead,' meaning one
dressed in borrowed plumes. Another saying is, ' To tiiin
kya abhi tak bhdr bhunjte rake,' or ' Have you been stoking
the oven all this time ? ' — meaning to imply that the person
addressed has been wasting his time, because the profits
from grain-parching are so small. The oven of the Psalmist
into which the grass was cast no doubt closely resembled
that of the Bharbhunjas.

VOL. II R

I. Origin

and

tribal

BHARIA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

I . Origin and h'ibal lege fid. 5 . Fii7ieral ceremonies,

z. Tribal subdivisions. 6. Religion and magic.

3. Marriage. 7. Social life and customs.

4. Childbirth. 8. Occupatioii.

Bharia, BhaPia - Bhumia.^ — A Dravidian tribe num-
bering about 50,000 persons and residing principally in
legend. the Jubbulpore District, which contains a half of the total
number. The others are found in Chhindvvara and Bilaspur.
The proper name of the tribe is Bharia, but they are often
called Bharia-Bhumia, because many of them hold the office
of Bhumia or priest of the village gods and of the lower
castes in Jubbulpore, and the Bharias prefer the designa-
tion of Bhumia as being the more respectable. The term
Bhumia or ' Lord of the soil ' is an alternative for Bhuiya,
the name of another Dravidian tribe, and no doubt came
to be applied to the office of village priest because it was
held by members of this tribe ; the term Baiga has a similar
signification in Mandla and Balaghat, and is applied to the
village priest though he may not belong to the Baiga tribe
at all. The Bharias have forgotten their original affinities,
and several stories of the origin of the tribe are based on
far-fetched derivations of the name. One of these is to the
effect that Arjun, when matters were going badly with the
Pandavas in their battle against the Kauravas, took up a
handful of bJiarru grass and, pressing it, produced a host of
men who fought in the battle and became the ancestors of

^ This article is compiled fronn notes pore, and from a paper by Ram Lai
taken by Mr. Hira Lai, Assistant Sharma, schoolmaster, Bilaspur.
Gazetteer Superintendent in Jubbul-

242

I 'ART II ORIGIN AND I'RII'^AL LEGEND 243

the Bliarias. And there are others of the same historical
value. But there is no reason to doubt that l^haria is the
contemptuous form of Bhar, as Telia for Teli, Jugia for Jogi,
Kuria for Kori, and that the Bharias belong to the great
Bhar tribe who were once dominant in the eastern part of
the United Provinces, but are now at the bottom of the
social scale, and relegated by their conquerors to the degrad-
ing office of swineherds. The Rajjhars, who appear to have
formed a separate caste as the landowning subdivision of the
Bhars, like the Raj-Gonds among Gonds, are said to be the
descendants of a Raja and a Bharia woman. The Rajjhars
form a separate caste in the Central Provinces, and the
Bharias acknowledge some connection with them, but refuse
to take water from their hands, as they consider them to be
of impure blood. The Bharias also give Mahoba or Band-
hogarh as their former home, and these places are in the
country of the Bhars. According to tradition Raja Kama
Deva, a former king of Dahal, the classical name of the
Jubbulpore country, was a Bhar, and it may be that the
immigration of the Bharias into Jubbulpore dates from his
period, which is taken as 1040 to 1080 A.D. While then it
may be considered as fairly certain that the Bharias are
merely the Bhar tribe with a variant of the name, it is clear
from the titles of their family groups, which will shortly be
given, that they are an extremely mixed class and consist
largely of the descendants of members of other castes, who,
having lost their own social position, have taken refuge among
the Bharias at the bottom of the social scale. Mr. Crooke
says of the Bhars : ^ " The most probable supposition is that
the Bhars were a Dravidian race closely allied to the Kols,
Cheros and Seoris, who at an early date succumbed to the
invading Aryans. This is borne out by their appearance
and physique, which closely resemble that of the undoubted
non-Aryan aborigines of the Vindhyan-Kaimur plateau." In
the Central Provinces the Bharias have been so closely
associated with the Gonds that they have been commonly
considered to belong to that tribe. Thus Mr. Drysdale says
of them : " ' The Bharias were the wildest of the wild Gonds

^ Tribes and Castes of the N. W.P., art. Bhar.
- C.P. Census Report, 1881, p. 188.

;44

BHARIA

2. Tribal
sub-
divisions.

and were inveterate dJiayd^ cutters.' Although, however,
they have to some extent intermarried with the Gonds, the
Bharias were originally quite a distinct tribe, and would
belong to the Kolarian or Munda group but that they have
entirely forgotten their own language and speak only Hindi,
though with a peculiar intonation especially noticeable in the
case of their women.

The structure of the tribe is a very loose one, and though
the Bharias say that they are divided into subcastes, there
are none in reality. Members of all castes except the very
lowest may become Bharias, and one Bharia will recognise
another as a fellow-tribesman if he can show relationship
to any person admitted to occupy that position. But a
division is in process of formation in Bilaspur based on the
practice of eating beef, from which some abstain, and in
consequence look down on the others who are addicted to
it, and call them Dhur Bharias, the term dJiur meaning cattle.
The abstainers from beef now refuse to marry with the others.
The tribe is divided into a number of exogamous groups,
and the names of these indicate the very heterogeneous
elements of which it consists. Out of fifty-one groups reported
not less than fifteen or sixteen have names derived from
other castes or clans, showing almost certainly that such
groups were formed by a mixed marriage or the admission
of a family of outsiders. Such names are : Agaria, from
the Agarias or iron-workers : this clan worships Loha-Sur,
the god of the Agarias ; Ahirwar, or the descendants of an
Ahir : this clan worships the Ahir gods ; Bamhania, born of
a Brahman ancestor ; Binjhwar or Binjha, perhaps from the
tribe of that name ; Chandel, from a Rajput clan ; Dagdoha,
a synonym of Basor : persons of this sept hang a piece of
bamboo and a curved knife to the waist of the bride at their
marriages ; Dhurua, born of a Dhurua Gond ; Kuanpa, born
of an Ahir subcaste of that name ; Kurka, of Korku
parentage ; Maravi, the name of a Gond clan ; Rathor from
a Rajput clan ; Samarba from a Chamar ; and Yarkara, the
name of a Gond clan. These names sufficiently indicate
the diverse elements of which the tribe is made up. Other

' Dhaya means the system of shifting cultivation, which until prohibited was
so injurious to the forests.

n MARRIAGE 245

group names with meanings are : Gambhele, or those who
scckide tlieir women in a separate house during the menstrual
period ; Kaitha, from the kaith tree {^Fcronia clephantiivi) ;
Karondiha, from the karonda plant {Carissa Carandas) ;
Magarha, from Diagar a crocodile : members of this group
worship an image of a crocodile made with flour and fried
in oil ; Sonwani, from sona gold : members of this group
perform the ceremony of readmission of persons temporarily
put out of caste by sprinkling on them a little water in
which gold has been dipped. Any person who does not
know his clan name calls himself a Chandel, and this group,
though bearing the name of a distinguished Rajput clan, is
looked upon as the lowest. But although the rule of
exogamy in marriage is recognised, it is by no means
strictly adhered to, and many cases are known in which
unions have taken place between members of the same
clan. So long as people can recollect a relationship between
themselves, they do not permit their families to intermarry.
But the memory of the Bharia does not extend beyond the
third generation.

Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the 3. Mar-
boy's father, who has it conveyed to the girl's father through "^^^'
some friend in his village. If a betrothal is arranged the
bride's father invites the father and friends of the bridegroom
to dinner ; on this occasion the boy's father brings some
necklaces of lac beads and spangles and presents them
to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and tie
the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place
the spangles on their foreheads, and then, catching hold of
their cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric
powder is also thrown on their faces. This is the binding
portion of the betrothal ceremony. The date of marriage
is fixed by a Brahman, this being the only purpose for
which he is employed, and a bride-price varying from six to
twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw
caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the
boy's father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage
ceremony follows generally the Hindu form. The bride-
groom puts on women's ornaments and carries with him an
iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil spirits. After

246 BHARIA part

the wedding, the niidua, a sort of burlesque dance, is held.
The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts
it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances,
holding a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in
the other. Every time she approaches the bridegroom's
father on her rounds she spills some of the ashes over him,
and occasionally gives him a crack on the head with her
ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of laughter
from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians.
When the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return,
his mother and the other women come out and burn a
little mustard and human hair in a lamp, the unpleasant
smell emitted by these articles being considered potent to
drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her
father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with
each one of her caste-sisters when taking leave of them.
When she returns home she must begin weeping loudly on
the boundary of the village, and continue doing so until she
has embraced each of her relatives and friends, a performance
which in a village containing a large number of Bharias may
take from three to six hours. These tears are, however,
considered to be a manifestation of joy, and the girl who
cannot produce enough of them is often ridiculed. A pro-
spective son-in-law who serves for his wife is known as
Gharjian. The work given him is always very heavy, and
the Bharias have a saying which compares his treatment
with that awarded to an ox obtained on hire. If a girl
is seduced by a man of the tribe, she may be married to him
by the ceremony prescribed for the remarriage of a widow,
which consists merely in the placing of bangles on the
wrists and a present of a new cloth, together with a feast
to the caste-fellows. Similarly if she is seduced by a man
of another caste who would be allowed to become a Bharia,
she can be married as a widow to any man of the tribe. A
widow is expected to marry her late husband's younger
brother, but no compulsion is exercised. If a bachelor
espouses a widow, he first goes through the ceremony of
marriage with a ring to which a twig of the date-palm is
tied, by carrying the ring seven times round the marriage
post. This is necessary to save him from the sin of dying

II ClflLDBIRTII RELIGION AND MAGIC 247

unmarried, as the union with a widow is not reckoned as a
true marriage. In Jubbulpore divorce is said to be allowed
only for conjugal misbehaviour, and a Bharia will pass over
three transgressions on his wife's part before finally turning
her out of his house. A woman who wishes to leave her
husband simply runs away from him and lives with somebody
else. In this case the third party must pay a goat to the
husband by way of compensation and give a feast to the
caste-fellows.

The carelessness of the Bharias in the matter of child- 4. Child-
birth is notorious, and it is said that mothers commonly ^^^^ "
went 'on working up to the moment of childbirth and were
delivered of children in the fields. Now, however, the
woman lies up for three days, and some ceremonies of
purification are performed. In Chhattlsgarh infants are
branded on the day of their birth, under the impression that
this will cause them to digest the food they have taken in
the womb. The child is named six months after birth by
the father's sister, and its lips are then touched with cooked
food for the first time.

The tribe both burn and bury the dead, and observe 5. Funeral
mourning for an adult for ten days, during which time they ^lonies
daily put out a leaf-cup containing food for the use of the
deceased. In the third year after the death, the viaugan or
caste beggar visits the relatives of the deceased, and receives
what they call one limb iang)^ or half his belongings ; the
ang consists of a loin-cloth, a brass vessel and dish, an axe,
a scythe and a wrist-ring.

The Bharias call themselves Hindus and worship the 6. Reii-
village deities of the locality, and on the day of Diwali offer magic"
a black chicken to their family god, who may be Bura Deo,
Dulha Deo or Karua, the cobra. For this snake they pro-
fess great reverence, and say that he was actually born in
a Bharia family. As he could not work in the fields he was
usually employed on errands. One day he was sent to the
house, and surprised one of his younger brother's wives, who
had not heard him coming, without her veil. She reproached
him, and he retired in dudgeon to the oven, where he was
presently burnt to death by another woman, who kindled a
fire under it not knowing that he was there. So he has

248 BHARIA part

been deified and is worshipped by the tribe. The Bharias
also venerate Bagheshwar, the tiger god, and believe that no
tiger will eat a Bharia. On the Diwali day they invite the
tiger to drink some gruel which they place ready for him
behind their houses, at the same time warning the other
villagers not to stir out of doors. In the morning they
display the empty vessels as a proof that the tiger has
visited them. They practise various magical devices,
believing that they can kill a man by discharging at him
a inutJi or handful of charmed objects such as lemons,
vermilion and seeds of urad. This ball will travel through
the air and, descending on the house of the person at whom it
is aimed, will kill him outright unless he can avert its power
by stronger magic, and perhaps even cause it to recoil in the
same manner on the head of the sender. They exorcise the
Sudhiniyas or the drinkers of human blood. A person
troubled by one of these is seated near the Bharia, who
places two pots with their mouths joined over a fire. He
recites incantations and the pots begin to boil, emitting blood.
This result is obtained by placing a herb in the pot whose
juice stains the water red. The blood-sucker is thus success-
fully exorcised. To drive away the evil eye they burn a
mixture of chillies, salt, human hair and the husks of kodon,
which emits a very evil smell. Such devices are practised by
members of the tribe who hold the office of Bhumia or
village priest. The Bharias are well-known thieves, and
they say that the dark spots on the moon are caused by a
banyan tree, which God planted with the object of diminish-
ing her light and giving thieves a chance to ply their trade.
If a Bhumia wishes to detect a thief, he sits clasping hands
with a friend, while a pitcher is supported on their hands.
An oblation is offered to the deity to guide the ordeal
correctly, and the names of suspected persons are recited
one by one, the name at which the pitcher topples over being
that of the thief. But before employing this method of
detection the Bhumia proclaims his intention of doing so on
a certain date, and in the meantime places a heap of ashes in
some lonely place and invites the thief to deposit the stolen
article in the ashes to save himself from exposure. By
common custom each person in the village is required to visit

II SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS 249

the heap and mingle a handful of ashes with it, and not
infrequently the thief, frightened at the Bhumia's powers of
detection, takes the stolen article and buries it in the ash-heap
where it is duly found, the necessity for resorting to the
further method of divination being thus obviated. Occasion-
ally the Bharia in his character of a Hindu will make a vow
to pay for a recitation of the Satya Narayan Katha or some
other holy work. But he understands nothing of it, and if
the Brahman employed takes a longer time than he had
bargained for over the recitation he becomes extremely bored
and irritated.

The scantiness of the Bharia's dress is proverbial, and 7- Social
the saying is ' Bharia b/nudka, pwdnda langwdta,' or ' The customs.
Bharia is verily a devil, who only covers his loins with a strip
of cloth.' But lately he has assumed more clothing. For-
merly an iron ring carried on the wrist to exorcise the evil
spirits was his only ornament. Women wear usually only one
coarse cloth dyed red, spangles on the forehead and ears, bead
necklaces, and cheap metal bracelets and anklets. Some now
have Hindu ornaments, but in common with other low castes
they do not usually wear a nose-ring, out of respect to the
higher castes. Women, though they work in the fields, do not
commonly wear shoes ; and if these are necessary to protect
the feet from thorns, they take them off and carry them in
the presence of an elder or a man of higher caste. They
are tattooed with various devices, as a cock, a crown, a native
chair, a pitcher stand, a sieve and a figure called dhandha,
which consists of six dots joined by lines, and appears to be
a representation of a man, one dot standing for the head,
one for the body, two for the arms and two for the legs.
This device is also used by other castes, and they evince
reluctance if asked to explain its meaning, so that it may be
intended as a representation of the girl's future husband.
The Bharia is considered very ugly, and a saying about him
is : ' The Bharia came down from the hills and got burnt
by a cinder, so that his face is black.' He does not bathe
for months together, and lives in a dirt}' hovel, infested by
the fowls which he loves to rear. His food consists of
coarse grain, often with boiled leaves as a vegetable, and he
consumes much whey, mixing it with his scanty portion of

250 BHARIA TART II

grain. Members of all except the lowest castes are admitted
to the Bharia community on presentation of a pagri and
some money to the headman, together with a feast to the
caste-fellows. The Bharias do not eat monkeys, beef or
the leavings of others, but they freely consume fowls and
pork. They are not considered as impure, but rank above
those castes only whose touch conveys pollution. For the
slaughter of a cow the Bilaspur Bharias inflict the severe
punishment of nine daily feasts to the caste, or one for each
limb of the cow, the limbs being held to consist of the legs,
ears, horns and tail. They have an aversion for the horse
and will not remove its dung. To account for this they tell
a story to the effect that in the beginning God gave them a
horse to ride and fight upon. But they did not know how
■ to mount the horse because it was so high. The wisest
man among them then proposed to cut notches in the
side of the animal by which they could climb up, and
they did this. But God, when he saw it, was very angry
with them, and ordered that they should never be soldiers,
but should be given a winnowing-fan and broom to sweep
the grain out of the grass and make their livelihood in
that way.
8. Occupa- The Bharias are usually farmservants and field-labourers,

and their services in these capacities are in much request.
They are hardy and industrious, and so simple that it is an easy
matter for their masters to involve them in perpetual debt,
and thus to keep them bound to service from generation to
generation. They have no understanding of accounts, and
the saying, ' Pay for the marriage of a Bharia and he is
your bond-slave for ever,' sufficiently explains the methods
adopted by their employers and creditors.

tion.

Origin of the Bhdts.

lO.

Bhdts and Chdrans.

II.

Lower-class Bhdts.

Social status of the caste.

12.

Social customs.

ij-

The Bhdfs business.

M-

Their extortionate practices.

15-

The JasondJiis.

i6.

The Chdrans as carriers.

17.

bhAt

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

Suicide and the fear of ghosts.
Instances of haunting and lay-
ing ghosts.
The Chdrans as sureties.
Suicide as a means of revenge.
Dhat'na.

Casting out spirits.
Sulking. Going bankrupt.
Blidt songs.

Bhat, Rao, Jasondhi. — The caste of bards and genea- i. Origin
legists. In 191 I the Bhats numbered 29,000 persons in ^^-^l^^
the Central Provinces and Berar, being distributed over all
Districts and States, with a slight preponderance in large
towns such as Nagpur, Jubbulpore and Amraoti. The name
Bhat is derived from the Sanskrit Bhatta, a lord. The
origin of the Bhats has been discussed in detail by Sir H.
Risley. Some, no doubt, are derived from the Brahman
caste as stated by Mr. Nesfield : " They are an offshoot from
those secularised Brahmans who frequented the courts of
princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in
public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such, with-
out much variation, is the function of the Bhat at the present
day. The Mahabharata speaks of a band of bards and *

eulogists marching in front of Yudishthira as he made his
progress from the field of Kurukshetra towards Hastinapur.
But these very men are spoken of in the same poem as
Brahmans. Naturally as time went on these courtier priests
became hereditary bards, receded from the parent stem and
founded a new caste." " The best modern opinion," Sir H.

251

252 BHAT part

Risley states,^ " seems disposed to find the germ of the
Brahman caste in the bards, ministers and family priests, who
were attached to the king's household in Vedic times. The
characteristic profession of the Bhats has an ancient and
distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and
India owes the preservation of its oldest treasures to the
singers who recited poems in the households of the chiefs,
and doubtless helped in some measure to shape the master-
pieces which they handed down. Their place was one of
marked distinction. In the days when writing was unknown,
the man who could remember many verses was held in high
honour by the tribal chief, who depended upon the memory
of the bard for his personal amusement, for the record of
his own and his ancestors' prowess, and for the mainten-
ance of the genealogy which established the purity of his
descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly to be
slain, and even Odysseus in the heat of his vengeance
spares the aoiSo? Phemius, ' who sang among the wooers of
necessity.' " ^

There is no reason to doubt that the Birm or Baram
Bhats are an offshoot of Brahmans, their name being merely
a corruption of the term Brahman. But the caste is a very
mixed one, and another large section, the Charans, are
almost certainly derived from Rajputs. Malcolm states that
according to the fable of their origin, Mahadeo first created
Bhats to attend his lion and bull ; but these could not prevent
the former from killing the latter, which was a source of
infinite vexation and trouble, as it compelled Mahadeo to
create new ones. He therefore formed the Charan, equally
devout with the Bhat, but of bolder spirit, and gave him in
charge these favourite animals. From that time no bull was
ever destroyed by the lion.^ This fable perhaps indicates that
while the peaceful Bhats were Brahmans, the more warlike
Charans were Rajputs. It is also said that some Rajputs
disguised themselves as bards to escape the vengeance of
Parasurama.^ The Maru Charans intermarry with Rajputs,
and their name appears to be derived from Maru, the term
for the Rajputana desert, which is also found in Marwar.

^ Tribes a7id Castes of Bengal, art. ^ Art. Bhat.

Brahman. * Rajasthan, ii. p. 406.

^ Malcolm, Central India, ii. p. 132.

II SOCIAL STATUS OF THE CASTE 253

Malcolm states ' that when the Rajputs migrated fn^m the
banks of the Ganges to Rajputana, their lirahman priests
did not accompany them in any numbers, and hence the
Charans arose and supplied their place. They had to under-
stand the rites of worship, particularly of Siva and Parvati,
the favourite deities of the Rajputs, and were taught to read
and write. One class became merchants and travelled with
large convoys of goods, and the others were the bards and
genealogists of the Rajputs. Their songs were in the rudest
metre, and their language was the local dialect, understood
by all. All this evidence shows that the Charans were a
class of Rajput bards.

But besides the Bi/m or Brahman Bhats and the Rajput 3. Lower-
Charans there is another large body of the caste of mixed ^^-
origin, who serve as bards of the lower castes and are
probably composed to a great extent of members of these
castes. These are known as the Brid-dhari or bes's^incf
Bhats. They beg from such castes as Lodhis, Telis, Kurmis,
Ahirs and so on, each caste having a separate section of
Bhats to serve it ; the Bhats of each caste take food from
the members of the caste, but they also eat and intermarry
with each other. Again, there are Bairagi Bhats who beg
from Bairagis, and keep the genealogies of the temple-priests
and their successors. Yet another class are the Dasaundhis
or Jasondhis, who sing songs in honour of Devi, play on
musical instruments and practise astrology. These rank
below the cultivating castes and sometimes admit members
of such castes who have taken religious vows.

The Brahman or Birm-Bhats form a separate subcaste, 4. Social
and the Rajputs are sometimes called Rajbhat. These wear the^castl
the sacred thread, which the Brid-Bhats and Jasondhis do
not. The social status of the Bhats appears to vary greatly.
Sir H. Risley states that they rank immediately below
Kayasths, and Brahmans will take water from their hands.
The Charans are treated by the Rajputs with the greatest
respect ; " the highest ruler rises when one of this class enters
or leaves an assembly, and the Charan is invited to eat first
at a Rajput feast. He smokes from the same huqqa as
Rajputs, and only caste-fellows can do this, as the smoke

' Malcolm, ii. p. 135. ^ Rajasthdn, ii. pp. 133, 134.

2 54 BHAT PART

passes through water on its way to the mouth. In past
times the Charan acted as a herald, and his person was
inviolable. He was addressed as Maharaj,^ and could sit on
the Singhasan or Lion's Hide, the ancient term for a Rajput
throne, as well as on the hides of the tiger, panther and
black antelope. The Rajputs held him in equal estimation
with the Brahman or perhaps even greater.^ This was
because they looked to him to enshrine their heroic deeds in
his songs and hand them down to posterity. His sarcastic
references to a defeat in battle or any act displaying a want
of courage inflamed their passions as nothing else could do.
On the other hand, the Brid-Bhats, who serve the lower castes,
occupy an inferior position. This is because they beg at
weddings and other feasts, and accept cooked food from
members of the caste who are their clients. Such an act
constitutes an admission of inferior status, and as the Bhats
eat together their position becomes equivalent to that of the
lowest group among them. Thus if other Bhats eat with the
Bhats of Telis or Kalars, who have taken cooked food from
their clients, they are all in the position of having taken food
from Telis and Kalars, a thing which only the lowest castes
will do. If the Bhat of any caste, such as the Kurmis, keeps
a girl of that caste, she can be admitted into the community,
which is therefore of a very mixed character. Such a caste
as the Kurmis will not even take water from the hands of
the Bhats who serve them. This rule applies also where a
special section of the caste itself act as bards and minstrels.
Thus the Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds, but rank
below ordinary Gonds, who give them food and will not take
it from them. And the Sansias, the bards of the Jats, and
the Mirasis, who are employed in this capacity by the lower
castes generally, occupy a very inferior position, and are
sometimes considered as impure.
5. Social The customs of the Bhats resemble those of other castes

customs. Q^ corresponding status. The higher Bhats forbid the re-
marriage of widows, and expel a girl who becomes pregnant
before marriage. They carry a dagger, the special emblem
of the Charans, in order to be distinguished from low-class

' Great King, the ordinary method of address to Brahmans.
- RdjasthCin, ii. p. 175.

II THE llllArS BUSINESS 255

lihats. The lihuts generally display the chaur or yak -tail
whisk and the chhadi or silver-plated rod on ceremonial
occasions, and they worship these emblems of their calling on
the principal festivals. The former is waved over the bride-
groom at a wedding, and the latter is borne before him.
The Brahman Bhats abstain from flesh of any l^ind and
liquor, and other Bhats usually have the same rules about
food as the caste whom they serve. Brahman Bhats and
Charans alone wear the sacred thread. The high status
sometimes assigned to this division of the caste is shown in
the saying :

Age BrCikvimi pichhc Bhat
take picJihe aitr jdt^

or, * First comes the Brahman, then the Bhat, and after them
the other castes.'

The business of a Bhat in former times is thus described 6. The
by Forbes : ^ " When the rainy season closes and travelling- J^^^.'^

-' . business.

becomes practicable, the bard sets off on his yearly tour from
his residence in the Bhatwara or bard's quarter of some city
or town. One by one he visits each of the Rajpiat chiefs
who are his patrons, and from whom he has received portions
of land or annual grants of money, timing his arrival, if
possible, to suit occasions of marriage or other domestic
festivals. After he has received the usual courtesies he pro-
duces the Wai, a book written in his own crabbed hiero-
glyphics or in those of his father, which contains the descent
of the house from its founder, interspersed with many a verse
or ballad, the dark sayings contained in which are chanted
forth in musical cadence to a delighted audience, and are
then orally interpreted by the bard with many an illustrative
anecdote or tale. The Wai, however, is not merely a source
for the gratification of family pride or even of love of song ;
it is also a record by which questions of relationship are
determined when a marriage is in prospect, and disputes
relating to the division of ancestral property are decided,
intricate as these last necessarily are from the practice of
polygamy and the rule that all the sons of a family are
entitled to a share. It is the duty of the bard at each
periodical visit to register the births, marriages and deaths

1 Rasmala, ii. pp. 261, 262.

256

BHAT

7. Their
extor-
tionate
practices.

which have taken place in the family since his last circuit, as
well as to chronicle all the other events worthy of remark
which have occurred to affect the fortunes of his patron ; nor
have we ever heard even a doubt suggested regarding the
accurate, much less the honest fulfilment of this duty by the
bard. The manners of the bardic tribe are very similar to
those of their Rajput clients ; their dress is nearly the same,
but the bard seldom appears without the katdr or dagger, a
representation of which is scrawled beside his signature, and
often rudely engraved upon his monumental stone, in evidence
of his death in the sacred duty of trdga (suicide)." ^

The Bhat thus fulfilled a most useful function as regis-
trar of births and marriages. But his merits were soon
eclipsed by the evils produced by his custom of extolling
liberal patrons and satirising those who gave inadequately.
The desire of the Rajputs to be handed down to fame in the
Bhat's songs was such that no extravagance was spared to
satisfy him. Chand, the great Rajput bard, sang of the
marriage of Prithwi Raj, king of Delhi, that the bride's father
emptied his coffers in gifts, but he filled them with the praises
of mankind. A lakh of rupees ^ was given to the chief bard,
and this became a precedent for similar occasions. " Until
vanity suffers itself to be controlled," Colonel Tod wrote,^
" and the aristocratic Rajputs submit to republican simplicity,
the evils arising from nuptial profusion will not cease. Un-
fortunately those who should check it find their interest in
stimulating it, namely, the whole crowd of vidiigtas or
beggars, bards, minstrels, jugglers, Brahmans, who assemble
on these occasions, and pour forth their epithalamiums in
praise of the virtue of liberality. The bards are the grand
recorders of fame, and the volume of precedent is always

^ See later in this article.

2 This present of a lakh of rupees is
known as Lakh Pasaru, and it is not
usually given in cash but in kind. It
is made up of grain, land, carriages,
jewellery, horses, camels and elephants,
and varies in value from Rs. 30,000 to
Rs. 70,000. A living bard, Mahama-
hopadhyaya Murar Das, has received
three Lakh Pasarus from the Rajas of
Jodhpur and has refused one from the
Rana of Udaipur in view of the fact

that he was made ayachaka by the
Jodhpur Raja. Ayachaka means liter-
ally 'not a beggar,' and when a bard
has once been made ayachaka he cannot
accept gifts from any person other than
his own patron. An ayachaka was
formerly known as polpat, as it became
his bounden duty to sing the praises of
his patron constantly from the gate {pol)
of the donor's fort or castle. (Mr.
HTra Lai.)

2 Rajasihan, ii. p. 548.

Beitnose, Cotlo., Derby.
BHAT WITH HIS PUTLA OR DOLL.

11 THEIR EXTORTIONATE PRACTICES 257

resorted to by citing the liberality of former chiefs ; while
the dread of their satire ' shuts the eyes of the chief to
consequences, and they are only anxious to maintain the
reputation of their ancestors, though fraught with future
ruin." Owing t© this insensate liberality in the desire to
satisfy the bards and win their praises, a Rajput chief who
had to marry a daughter was often practically ruined ; and
the desire to avoid such obligations led to the general
practice of female infanticide, formerly so prevalent in
Rajputana. The importance of the bards increased their
voracity ; Mr. Nesficld describes them as " Rapacious and
conceited mendicants, too proud to work but not too proud
to beg." The Dholis ^ or minstrels were one of the
seven great evils which the famous king Sidhraj expelled
from Anhilwada Patan in Gujarat ; the Dakans or witches
were another.^ Malcolm states that " They give praise and
fame in their songs to those who are liberal to them, while
they visit those who neglect or injure them with satires
in which the victims are usually reproached with illegiti-
mate birth and meanness of character. Sometimes the
Bhat, if very seriously offended, fixes an e-^%y of the person
he desires to degrade on a long pole and appends to it a
slipper as a mark of disgrace. In such cases the song of
the Bhat records the infamy of the object of his revenge.
This image usually travels the country till the party or his
friends purchase the cessation of the curses and ridicule thus
entailed. It is not deemed in these countries within the
power of the prince, much less any other person, to stop
a Bhat or even punish him for such a proceeding. In i 8 i 2
Sevak Ram Seth, a banker of Holkar's court, offended one
of these Bhats, pushing him rudely out of the shop where
the man had come to ask alms. The man made a figure ■*
of him to which he attached a slipper and carried it to
court, and everywhere sang the infamy of the Seth. The
latter, though a man of wealth and influence, could not
prevent him, but obstinately refused to purchase his forbear-
ance. His friends after some months subscribed Rs. 80
and the Bhat discontinued his execrations, but said it was

1 Viserva, lit. poison. ^ Rajasthdn, ii. p. 1S4.

2 From dhol, a drum. * Lit. putli or doll.
VOL. II S

258 BHAT part

too late, as his curses had taken effect ; and the superstitious
Hindus ascribe the ruin of the banker, which took place some
years afterwards, to this unfortunate event." The loquacity
and importunity of the Bhats are shown in the saying, ' Four
Bhats make a crowd ' ; and their insincerity in the proverb
quoted by Mr. Crooke, " The bard, the innkeeper and the
harlot have no heart ; they are polite when customers
arrive, but neglect those leaving (after they have paid) " ^
The Bhat women are as bold, voluble and ready in retort as
the men. When a Bhat woman passes a male caste-
fellow on the road, it is the latter who raises a piece of
cloth to his face till the woman is out of sight."
8_ The Some of the lower classes of Bhats have become religious

jasondhis. mendicants and musicians, and perform ceremonial functions.
Thus the Jasondhis, who are considered a class of Bhats,
take their name from the jas or hymns sung in praise of
Devi. They are divided into various sections, as the Nakib
or flag-bearers in a procession, the Nazir or ushers who
introduced visitors to the Raja, the Nagaria or players on
kettle-drums, the Karaola who pour sesamum oil on their
clothes and beg, and the Panda, who serve as priests of
Devi, and beg carrying an image of the goddess in their
hands. There is also a section of Muhammadan Bhats
who serve as bards and genealogists for Muhammadan
castes. Some Bhats, having the rare and needful qualifica-
tion of literacy so that they can read the old Sanskrit
medical works, have, like a number of Brahmans, taken to
the practice of medicine and are known as Kaviraj.
9. The As already stated, the persons of the Charans in the

Charansas capacity of bard and herald were sacred, and they travelled

carriers. '^ '' ^

from court to court without fear of molestation from robbers
or enemies. It seems likely that the Charans may have
united the breeding of cattle to their calling of bard ; but
in any case the advantage derived from their sanctity was
so important that they gradually became the chief carriers
and traders of Rajputana and the adjoining tracts. They
further, in virtue of their holy character, enjoyed a partial
exemption from the perpetual and harassing imposts levied

1 Tribes and Castes, art. Bhat.
2 Ibidem^ Veiling the face is a sign of modesty.

II SUICIDE AND THE FEAR OF GllOSrS 259

by evciy petty State on produce entering its territory ;
and the combination of advantages thus obtained was such
as to give them almost a monopoly in trade. They carried
merchandise on large droves of bullocks all over' Rajputana
and the adjoining countries ; and in course of time the
carriers restricted themselves to their new profession, splitting
off from the Charans and forming the caste of Banjaras.

But the mere reverence for their calling would not have 10. Suicide
sufficed for a permanent safeguard to the Charans from !^"'^' "i^

'■ '^ fear of

destitute and unscrupulous robbers. They preserved it by ghosts,
the customs of CJiaiidi or Trdga and Dharna. These
consisted in their readiness to mutilate, starve or kill them-
selves rather than give up property entrusted to their care ;
and it was a general belief that their ghosts would then
haunt the persons whose ill deeds had forced them to take
their own lives. It seems likely that this belief in the
power of a suicide or murdered man to avenge himself by
haunting any persons who had injured him or been re-
sponsible for his death may have had a somewhat wide
prevalence and been partly accountable for the reprobation
attaching in early times to the murderer and the act of
self-slaughter. The haunted murderer would be impure
and would bring ill-fortune on all who had to do with him,
while the injury which a suicide would inflict on his relatives
in haunting them would cause this act to be regarded as a
sin against one's family and tribe. Even the ordinary fear
of the ghosts of people who die in the natural course, and
especially of those who are killed by accident, is so strong
that a large part of the funeral rites is devoted to placating
and laying the ghost of the dead man ; and in India the
period of observance of mourning for the dead is perhaps
in reality that time during which the spirit of the dead man
is supposed to haunt his old abode and render the survivors
of his family impure. It was this fear of ghosts on which
the Charans relied, nor did they hesitate a moment to
sacrifice their lives in defence of any obligation they had
undertaken or of property committed to their care. When
plunderers carried off any cattle belonging to the Charans,
the whole community would proceed to the spot where the
robbers resided ; and in failure of having their property

26o BHAT PART

restored would cut off the heads of several of their old men
and women. Frequent instances occurred of a man dressing
himself in cotton-quilted cloths steeped in oil which he set
on fire at the bottom, and thus danced against the person
against whom ti'dga was performed until the miserable creature
dropped down and was burnt to ashes. On one occasion
a Cutch chieftain, attempting to escape with his wife and
child from a village, was overtaken by his enemy when about
to leap a precipice ; immediately turning he cut off his wife's
head with his scimitar and, flourishing his reeking blade in
the face of his pursuer, denounced against him the curse of
the trdga which he had so fearfully performed.^ In this
case it was supposed that the wife's ghost would haunt the
enemy who had driven the husband to kill her.
II. In- The following account in \hQ. Rdsnidla'^ is an instance of

stances of g^icidc and of the actual haunting- by the ghost : A Charan

haunting fc> / fc>

and laying asserted a claim against the chief of Siela in Kathiawar,
ghosts. which the latter refused to liquidate. The bard thereupon,
taking forty of his caste with him, went to Siela with the
intention of sitting Dkarna at the chief's door and preventing
any one from coming out or going in until the claim should
be discharged. However, as they approached the town, the
chief, becoming aware of their intention, caused the gates to
be closed. The bards remained outside and for three days
abstained from food ; on the fourth day they proceeded to
perform tj'dga as follows : some hacked their own arms ;
others decapitated three old women of the party and hung
their heads up at the gate as a garland ; certain of the
women cut off their own breasts. The bards also pierced the
throats of four of their old men with spikes, and they took
two young girls by the heels, and dashed out their brains
against the town gate. The Charan to whom the money
was due dressed himself in clothes wadded with cotton
which he steeped in oil and then set on fire. He thus
burned himself to death. But as he died he cried out,
" I am now dying ; but I will become a headless ghost
{Kuvts) in the palace, and will take the chief's life and
cut off his posterity." After this sacrifice the rest of the
bards returned home.

' Postans, Cutch, p. 172. 2 YqI. ii. pp. 392-394.

II INSTANCES OF HAUNTING AND LA YING GHOSTS 261

On the third day after the Charan's death his Bhut
(ghost) threw the Rani downstairs so that she was very
much injured. Many other persons also beheld the head-
less phantom in the palace. At last he entered the chiefs
head and set him trembling. At night he would throw
stones at the palace, and he killed a female servant outright.
At length, in consequence of the various acts of oppression
which he committed, none dared to approach the chief's
mansion even in broad daylight. In order to exorcise the
Bhut, Jogis, Fakirs and Brahmans were sent for from
many different places ; but whoever attempted the cure
was immediately assailed by the Bhut in the chief's body,
and that so furiously that the exorcist's courage failed him.
The Bhut would also cause the chief to tear the flesh off
his own arms with his teeth. Besides this, four or five persons
died of injuries received from the Bhut ; but nobody had
the power to expel him. At length a foreign Jyotishi
(astrologer) came who had a great reputation for charms
and magic, and the chief sent for him and paid him
honour. First he tied all round the house threads which he
had charged with a charm ; then he sprinkled charmed milk
and water all round ; then he drove a charmed iron nail into
the ground at each corner of the mansion, and two at the
door. He purified the house and continued his charms and
incantations for forty-one days, every day making sacrifices at
the cemetery to the Bhut's spirit. The Joshi lived in a room
securely fastened up ; but people say that while he was mutter-
ing his charms stones would fall and strike the windows.
Finally the Joshi brought the chief, who had been living in
a separate room, and tried to exorcise the spirit. The
patient began to be very violent, but the Joshi and his people
spared no pains in thrashing him until they had rendered
him quite docile. A sacrificial fire-pit was made and a lemon
placed between it and the chief. The Joshi commanded
the Bhut to enter the lime. The possessed, however, said,
* Who are you ; if one of your Deos (gods) were to come, I
would not quit this person.' Thus they went on from
morning till noon. At last they came outside, and, burning
various kinds of incense and sprinkling many charms, the
Bhut was got out into the lemon. When the lemon began

262 BHAT part

to jump about, the whole of the spectators praised the
Joshi, crying out : ' The Bhut has gone into the lemon !
Tlie Bhut has gone into the lemon ! ' The possessed
person himself, when he saw the lemon hopping about,
was perfectly satisfied that the Bhut had left his body
and gone out into the lemon. The Joshi then drove the
lemon outside the city, followed by drummers and trumpeters ;
if the lemon left the road, he would touch it with his stick
and put it into the right way again. On the track they
sprinkled mustard and salt and finally buried the lemon in a pit
seven cubits deep, throwing into the hole above it mustard
and salt, and over these dust and stones, and filling in the
space between the stones with lead. At each corner, too, the
Joshi drove in an iron nail, two feet long, which he had
previously charmed. The lemon buried, the people returned
home, and not one of them ever saw the Bhut thereafter.
According to the recorder of the tale, the cure was effected
by putting quicksilver into the lemon. When a man is
attacked with fever or becomes speechless or appears to have
lockjaw, his friends conclude from these indications that he
is possessed by a Bhut.

In another case some Bhats had been put in charge, by
the chief of a small State, of a village which was coveted
by a neighbouring prince, the Rana of Danta. The latter
sent for the Bhats and asked them to guard one or two of
his villages, and having obtained their absence by this
pretext he raided their village, carrying off hostages and
cattle. When the Bhats got back they collected to the
number of a hundred and began to perform DJiarna against
the Rana. They set out from their village, and at every
two miles as they advanced they burned a man, so that by
the time they got to the Rana's territory seven or eight men
had been burnt. They were then pacified by his people
and induced to go back. The Rana offered them presents,
but they refused to accept them, as they said the guilt of the
death of their fellows who had been burned would thereby
be removed from the Rana. The Rana lost all the seven
sons born to him and died childless, and it was generally
held to be on account of this sin.^

^ Kdsindla, ii. pp. 143, 144.

as sureties.

II THE CHARANS AS SURETIES 263

Such was the certainty attaching to the Charan's 12. The
readiness to forfeit his Hfe rather than prove false to a trust,
and the fear entertained of the offence of causing him to do so
and being haunted by his ghost, that his security was eagerly
coveted in every kind of transaction. " No traveller could
journey unattended by these guards, who for a small sum
were satisfied to conduct him in safety.^ The guards,
called Valavas, were never backward in inflicting the most
grievous wounds and even causing the death of their old
men and women if the robbers persisted in plundering those
under their protection ; but this seldom happened, as the
wildest Koli, Kathi or Rajput held the person of a Charan
sacred. Besides becoming safeguards to travellers and
goods, they used to stand security to the amount of many
lakhs of rupees. When rents and property were concerned,
the Rajputs preferred a Charan's bond to that of the wealthiest
banker. They also gave security for good behaviour,
called c/idlu zdviin, and for personal attendance in court
called Jidzar zdviin. The ordinary trdga went no farther
than a cut on the arm with the katdr or crease ; the forearms
of those who were in the habit of becoming security had
generally several cuts from the elbow downwards. The
Charans, both men and women, wounded themselves, com-
mitted suicide and murdered their relations with the most
complete self-devotion. In 1 8 1 2 the Marathas brought a
body of troops to impose a payment on the village of
Panchpipla.^ The Charans resisted the demand, but finding
the Marathas determined to carry their point, after a remon-
strance against paying any kind of revenue as being contrary
to their occupation and principles, they at last cut the throats
of ten young children and threw them at the feet of the
Marathas, exclaiming, ' These are our riches and the only
payment we can make.' The Charans were immediately
seized and confined in irons at Jambusar."

As was the case with the Bhat and the Brahman, the
source of the Charan's power lay in the widespread fear that
a Charan's blood brought ruin on him who caused the blood
to be spilt. It was also sometimes considered that the

' Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam, pp. 217, 219.

- In Broach.

as a means
of revenge.

264 BHAT PART

Charan was possessed by his deity, and the caste were known
as Deoputra or sons of God, the favourite dwelHng of the
guardian spirit.
13. Suicide Such a beh'cf enhanced the guilt attaching to the act of

causing or being responsible for a Charan's death. Suicide
from motives of revenge has been practised in other countries.
" Another common form of suicide which is admired as
heroic in China is that committed for the purpose of taking
revenge upon an enemy who is otherwise out of reach —
according to Chinese ideas a most effective mode of revenge,
not only because the law throws the responsibility of the
deed on him who occasioned it, but also because the dis-
embodied soul is supposed to be better able than the living
man to persecute the enemy." ^ Similarly, among the Hos
or Mundas the suicide of young married women is or was
extremely common, and the usual motive was that the girl,
being unhappy in her husband's house, jumped down a well
or otherwise made away with herself in the belief that she
would take revenge on his family by haunting them after
her death. The treatment of the suicide's body was some-
times directed to prevent his spirit from causing trouble.
" According to Jewish custom persons who had killed them-
selves were left unburied till sunset, perhaps for fear lest the
spirit of the deceased otherwise might find its way back
to the old home." ^ At Athens the right hand of a person
who had taken his own life was struck off and buried apart
from the rest of the body, evidently in order to make him
harmless after death.^ Similarly, in England suicides were
buried with a spike through the chest to prevent their spirits
from rising, and at cross-roads, so that the ghost might not
be able to find its way home. This fear appears to have
partly underlain the idea that suicide was a crime or an
offence against society and the state, though, as shown by
Dr. Westermarck, the reprobation attaching to it was far
from universal ; while in the cultured communities of ancient
Greece and Rome, and among such military peoples as the
Japanese suicide was considered at all times a legitimate
and, on occasion, a highly meritorious and praiseworthy act.

1 Wesleimarck, Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. p. 242.
^ Westermarck, ibidem, p. 246. ^ Westermarck, ibidem, p. 248.

II DHARNA 265

That condition of nnind which leads to the taking of
one's own Hfe from motives of revenge is perhaps a fruit
of ignorance and solitude. The mind becomes distorted,
and the sufferer attributes the unhappiness really caused by
accident or his own faults or defects to the persecution of a
malignant fate or the ill-will of his neighbours and associates.
And long brooding over his wrongs eventuates in his taking
the extreme step. The crime known as running amok
appears to be the outcome of a similar state of mind. Here
too the criminal considers his wrongs or misery as the result
of injury or unjust treatment from his fellow-men, and, care-
less of his own life, determines to be revenged on them.
Such hatred of one's kind is cured by education, leading to
a truer appreciation of the circumstances and environment
which determine the course of life, and by the more cheerful
temper engendered by social intercourse. And these crimes
of vengeance tend to die out with the advance of civilisation.

Analogous to the custom of trdga was that of Dharjia, 14-
which was frequently and generally resorted to for the
redress of wrongs and offences at a time w^hen the law made
little provision for either. The ordinary method of Dharfta
was to sit starving oneself in front of the door of the person
from whom redress was sought until he gave it from fear of
causing the death of the suppliant and being haunted by his
ghost. It was, naturally, useless unless the person seeking
redress was prepared to go to extremes, and has some
analogy to the modern hunger-strike with the object of
getting out of jail. Another common device was to thrust
a spear-blade through both cheeks, and in this state to dance
before the person against whom Dharna was practised. The
pain had to be borne without a sign of suffering, which, if
displayed, would destroy its efficacy. Or a creditor would
proceed to the door of his debtor and demand payment,
and if not appeased would stand up in his presence with an
enormous weight upon his head, which he had brought with
him for the purpose, swearing never to alter his position
until satisfaction was given, and denouncing at the same
time the most horrible execrations on his debtor, should he
suffer him to expire in that situation. This seldom failed
to produce the desired effect, but should he actually die

266 BHAT PART

while in Dharna, the debtor's house was razed to the earth
and he and his family sold for the satisfaction of the
creditor's heirs. Another and more desperate form of
Dkarna, only occasionally resorted to, was to erect a large
pile of wood before the house of the debtor, and after the
customary application for payment had been refused the
creditor tied on the top of the pile a cow or a calf, or very
frequently an old woman, generally his mother or other
relation, swearing at the same time to set fire to it if
satisfaction was not instantly given. All the time the
old woman denounced the bitterest curses, threatening to
persecute the wretched debtor both here and hereafter.^

The word dharna means ' to place or lay on,' and hence
' a pledge.' Mr. Hira Lai suggests that the standing with
a weight on the head may have been the original form of
the penance, from which the other and severer methods were
subsequently derived. Another custom known as dharna
is that of a suppliant placing a stone on the shrine of
a god or tomb of a saint. He makes his request and,
laying the stone on the shrine, says, " Here I place this
stone until you fulfil my prayer ; if I do not remove it,
the shame is on you." If the prayer is afterwards fulfilled,
he takes away the stone and offers a cocoanut. It seems
clear that the underlying idea of this custom is the same
as that of standing with a stone on the head as described
above, but it is difficult to say which was the earlier or
original form.

As a general rule, if the guilt of having caused a suicide
was at a man's door, he should expiate it by going to the
Ganges to bathe. When a man was haunted by the ghost
of any one whom he had wronged, whether such a person
had committed suicide or simply died of grief at being
unable to obtain redress, it was said of him BraJiui laga, or
that Brahma had possessed him. The spirit of a Brahman
boy, who has died unmarried, is also accustomed to haunt any
person who walks over his grave in an impure condition or
otherwise defiles it, and when a man is haunted in such a
manner it is called Brahvi laga. Then an exorcist is called,

* The above account of Dharna is taken from Colonel Tone's Letter on the
Marathas (India Office Tracts).

II SULKING— GOING BANKRUPT 267

who sprinkles water over the possessed man, and this burns
the Brahm Deo or spirit inside him as if it were burning oil.
The spirit cries out, and the exorcist orders him to leave the
man. Then the spirit states how he has been injured by
the man, and refuses to leave him. The exorcist asks him
what he requires on condition of leaving the man, and he asks
for some good food or something else, and is given it. The
exorcist takes a nail and goes to a plpal tree and orders the
Brahm Deo to go into the tree. Brahm Deo obeys, and the
exorcist drives the nail into the tree and the spirit remains
imprisoned there until somebody takes the nail out, when he
will come out again and haunt him. The Hindus think that
the god Brahma lives in the roots of the pipal tree, Siva in
its branches, and Vishnu in the choti or scalp-knot, that is
the topmost foliage.

Another and mild form of Dharna is that known as 16. Suik-
KJidtpdti. When a woman is angry with her husband on ^^^^^^
account of his having refused her some request, she will put bankrupt.
her bed in a corner of the room and go and lie on it, turning
her face to the wall, and remain so, not answering when
spoken to nor taking food. The term Khatpati signifies
keeping to one side of the bed, and there she will remain
until her husband accedes to her request, unless indeed he
should decide to beat her instead. This is merely an exag-
gerated form of the familiar display of temper known as
sulking. It is interesting to note the use of the phrase
turning one's face to the wall, with something of the mean-
ing attached to it in the Bible.

A custom similar to that of Dhariia was called Diwdla
nikdlna or going bankrupt. When a merchant had had
heavy losses and could not meet his liabilities, he would
place the lock of his door outside, reversing it, and sit in
the veranda with a piece of sackcloth over him. Or he
wrapped round him the floor-carpet of his room. When he
had displayed these signs of ruin and self-abasement his
creditors would not sue him, but he would never be able to
borrow money again.

In conclusion a few specimens of Bhat songs may be 17. Bhat
given. The following is an account of the last king of ^°"ss-
Nagpur, Raghuji III., commonly known as Baji Rao :

268 BHAT PART

They made a picture of Baji Rao ;

Baji Rao was the finest king to see ;

The Brahmans told hes about him,

They sent a letter from Nagpur to Calcutta,

They made Baji Rao go on a pilgrimage.

Brothers ! the great Sirdars who were with him,

They brought a troop of five hundred horse !

The Tuesday fair in Benares was held with fireworks.

They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.

Baji Rao's gifts were splendid.

His turban and coat were of brocaded silk,

A pair of diamonds and emeralds

He gave to the Brahmans of Benares.

Oh brothers ! the Raja sat in a covered howdah bound on an

elephant !
Many fans waved over his head ;
How charitable a king he was 1

In the above song a note of regret is manifest for the
parade and display of the old court of Nagpur, English
rule being less picturesque. The next is a song about the
English :

The English have taken the throne of Nagpur,

The fear of the English is great.

In a moment's time they conquer countries.

The guns boomed, the English came strong and warlike,

They give wealth to all.

They ram the ramrods in the guns.

They conquered also Tippoo's dominions,

The English are ruling in the fort of Gawilgarh.

The following is another song about the English, not
quite so complimentary :

The English became our kings and have made current the kalddr

(milled) rupee.
The menials are favoured and the Bhats have lost their profession,
The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness,
The rose has lost its scent.
Baji Rao of Nagpur he also is gone,
No longer are the drums beaten at the palace gate,
Poona customs have come in.

Brahmans knowing the eighteen Purans have become Christians ;
The son thinks himself better than his father,
The daughter-in-law no longer respects her mother-in-law.
The wife fights with her husband.
The English have made the railways and telegraphs ;
The people wondered at the silver rupees and all the country

prospered.

n /Uf AT SONGS 269

The following is a song about the Nerbudda at Mandla,
Revva being another name for the river :

The stream of the world springs out breaking apart the hills ;

The Revva cuts her path through the soil, the air is darkened with her

spray.
All the length of her banks are the seats of saints ; hermits and pilgrims

worship her.
On seeing the holy river a man's sins fall away as wood is cut by a saw ;
IJy bathing in her he plucks the fruit of holiness.
When boats are caught in her flood, the people pray : ' We are sinners,

O Rewa, bring us safely to the bank ! '
When the Nerbudda is in flood, Mandla is an island and the people

think their end has come :
The rain pours down on all sides, earth and sky become dark as smoke,

and men call on Rama.
The bard says : ' Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as Krishna

saved the people of Brindawan ! '

This is a description of a beautiful woman :

A beautiful woman is loved by her neighbours.

But she will let none come to her and answers them not.

They say : ' Since God has made you so beautiful, open your litter and

let yourself be seen ! '
He who sees her is struck as by lightning, she shoots her lover with the

darts of her eyes, invisible herself.
She will not go to her husband's house till he has her brought by the

Government.
When she goes her father's village is left empty.
She is so delicate she faints at the sight of a flower.
Her body cannot bear the weight of her cloth.
The garland of jasmine-flowers is a burden on her neck,
The red powder on her feet is too heavy for them.

It is interesting to note that weakness and delicacy in a
woman are emphasised as an attraction, as in English litera-
ture of the eighteenth century.

The last is a gentle intimation that poets, like other
people, have to live :

It is useless to adorn oneself with sandalwood on an empty belly,

Nobody's body gets fat from the scent of flowers ;

The singing of songs excites the mind,

But if the body is not fed all these are vain and hollow.

All Bhats recite their verses in a high-pitched sing-song
tone, which renders it very difficult for their hearers to grasp

270 BHAT PART II

the sense unless they know it ah'eady. The Vedas and all
other sacred verses are spoken in this manner, perhaps as
a mark of respect and to distinguish them from ordinary
speech. The method has some resemblance to intoning.
Women use the same tone when mourning for the dead.

BHATRA

LIST OP^ PARAGRAPHS

1. General notice and stntcti/re of 6. Propitiation of ghosts.

the caste. 7. Religion. Ceremonies at hunt-

2. Admission of outsiders. ing,

3. A r range jnent of marriages. 8. Superstitious retnedies.

4. The Counter of Posts. 9. Occupatioji.

5. Marriage customs. 10. Names.

Bhatra.^ — A primitive tribe of the Bastar State and the i. General
south of Raipur District, akin to the Gonds. They numbered "°'"^^ ^"^

•^ ' •' structure

33,000 persons in 1 891, and in subsequent enumerations of the
have been amalgamated with the Gonds. Nothing is known ^^^'^'
of their origin except a legend that they came with the
Rajas of Bastar from Warangal twenty-three generations
ago. The word Bhatra is said to mean a servant, and the
tribe are emplo}'ed as village watchmen and household and
domestic servants. They have three divisions, the Pit,
Amnait and San Bhatras, who rank one below the other,
the Pit being the highest and the San the lowest. The Pit
Bhatras base their superiority on the fact that they decline
to make grass mats, which the Amnait Bhatras will do,
while the San Bhatras are considered to be practically
identical with the Muria Gonds. Members of the three
groups will eat with each other before marriage, but after-
wards they will take only food cooked without water from a
person belonging to another group. They have the usual
set of exogamous septs named after plants and animals.
Formerly, it is said, they were tattooed with representations

1 This article is compiled from ment Officer, Bastar ; and Mr. Gopal

papers drawn up by Rai Bahadur Krishna, Assistant Superintendent,

Panda Baijnath, Superintendent, Bas- Bastar.
tar State ; Mr. Ravi Shankar, Settle-

271

272

BHA TRA

2. Admis-
sion of
outsiders.

3. Arrange-
ment of
marriages.

4. The

Counter
of Posts.

of the totem plant and animal, and the septs named after
the tiger and snake ate the flesh of these animals at a
sacrificial meal. These customs have fallen into abeyance,
but still if they kill their totem animal they will make
apologies to it, and break their cooking-pots, and bury or
burn the body, A man of substance will distribute alms
in the name of the deceased animal. In some localities
members of the Kachhun or tortoise sept will not eat a
pumpkin which drops from a tree because it is considered to
resemble a tortoise. But if they can break it immediately
on touching the ground they may partake of the fruit, the
assumption being apparently that it has not had time to
become like a tortoise.

Outsiders are not as a rule admitted. But a woman of
equal or higher caste who enters the house of a Bhatra will
be recognised as his wife, and a man of the Panara, or
gardener caste, can also become a member of the community
if he lives with a Bhatra woman and eats from her hand.

In Raipur a girl should be married before puberty, and
if no husband is immediately available, they tie a few
flowers into her cloth and consider this as a marriage. If
an unmarried girl becomes pregnant she is debarred from
going through the wedding ceremony, and will simply go
and live with her lover or any other man. Matches are
usually arranged by the parents, but if a daughter is not
pleased with the prospective bridegroom, who may some-
times be a well-to-do man much older than herself, she
occasionally runs away and goes through the ceremony on
her own account with the man of her choice.

If no one has asked her parents for her hand she may
similarly select a husband for herself and make her wishes
known, but in that case she is temporarily put out of caste _
until the chosen bridegroom signifies his acquiescence by
giving the marriage feast. What happens if he definitely
fails to respond is not stated, but presumably the young
woman tries elsewhere until she finds herself accepted.

The date and hour of the wedding are fixed by an
official known as the Meda Gantia, or Counter of Posts.
He is a sort of illiterate village astrologer, who can foretell
the character of the rainfall, and gives auspicious dates for

II MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 273

sowing and harvest. He goes through some training, and
as a test of his capacity is required by his teacher to tell at
a glance the number of posts in an enclosure which he has
not seen before. Having done this correctly he qualifies as
a Meda Gantia. Apparently the Bhatras, being unable at
one time to count themselves, acquired an exaggerated
reverence for the faculty of counting, and thought that if a
man could only count far enough he could reckon into the
future ; or it might be thought that as he could count and
name future days, he thus obtained power over them, and
could tell what would happen on them just as one can
obtain power over a man and work him injury by knowing
his real name.

At a wedding the couple walk seven times round the 5- MJit"-
sacred post, which must be of wood of the mahua ^ tree, and customs.
on its conclusion the post is taken to a river or stream and
consigned to the water. The Bhatras, like the Gonds, no
doubt revere this tree because their intoxicating liquor is
made from its flowers. The couple wear marriage crowns
made from the leaves of the date palm and exchange these.
A little turmeric and flour are mixed with water in a plate,
and the bride, taking the bridegroom's right hand, dips
it into the coloured paste and strikes it against the wall.
The action is repeated five times, and then the bridegroom
does the same with the bride's hand. By this rite the
couple pledge each other for their mutual behaviour during
married life. From the custom of making an impression of
the hand on a wall in token of a vow may have arisen that
of clasping hands as a symbol of a bargain assented to, and
hence of shaking hands, by persons who meet, as a pledge
of amity and the absence of hostile intentions. Usually the
hand is covered with red ochre, which is probably a sub-
stitute for blood ; and the impression of the hand is made
on the wall of a temple in token of a vow. This may be a
survival of the covenant made by the parties dipping their
hands in the blood of the sacrifice and laying them on the
god. A pit about a foot deep is dug close to the marriage-
shed, and filled with mud or wet earth. The bride conceals
a nut in the mud and the bridegroom has to find it, and

1 Bassia latifolia.
VOL. II T

274 BHATRA part

the hiding and finding are repeated by both parties. This
rite may have the signification of looking for children. The
remainder of the day is spent in eating, drinking and dancing.
On the way home after the wedding the bridegroom has to
shoot a deer, the animal being represented by a branch of a
tree thrown across the path by one of the party. But if
a real deer happens by any chance to come by he has to
shoot this. The bride goes up to the real or sham deer and
pulls out the arrow, and presents her husband with water and
a tooth-stick, after which he takes her in his arms and they
dance home together. On arrival at the house the bride-
groom's maternal uncle or his son lies down before the door
covering himself with a blanket. He is asked what he wants,
and says he will have tlie daughter of the bridegroom to wife.
The bridegroom promises to give a daughter if he has one,
and if he has a son to give him for a friend. The tribe
consider that a man has a right to marry the daughter of
his maternal uncle, and formerly if the girl was refused by
her parents he abducted her and married her forcibly. The
bride remains at her husband's house for a few days and
then goes home, and before she finally takes up her abode
with him the gamia or going-away ceremony must be per-
formed. The hands of the bride and bridegroom are tied
together, and an arrow is held upright on them and some oil
poured over it. The foreheads of the couple are marked
with turmeric and rice, this rite being known as tika or
anointing, and presents are given to the bride's family.
6. Pro- The dead are buried, the corpse being laid on its back

pitiation of ^yjtj-^ thg head to the north. Some rice, cowrie-shells, a

ghosts.

winnowing-fan and other articles are placed on the grave.
The tribe probably consider the winnowing-fan to have
some magical property, as it also forms one of the presents
given to the bride at the betrothal. If a man is killed by
a tiger his spirit must be propitiated. The priest ties strips
of tiger-skin to his arms, and the feathers of the peacock and
blue jay to his waist, and jumps about pretending to be a
tiger. A package of a hundred seers (200 lbs.) of rice is
made up, and he sits on this and finally takes it away with
him. If the dead man had any ornaments they must all be
given, however valuable, lest his spirit should hanker after

II RELIGION— SUPERSTITIOUS REMEDIES 275

them and return to look for them in the shape of the tiger.
The lari^^e quantity of rice given to the priest is also probably
intended as a provision of the best food for the dead man's
spirit, lest it be hungry and come in the shape of the tiger
to satisfy its appetite upon the surviving relatives. The
laying of the ghosts of persons killed by tigers is thus a
very profitable business for the priests.

The tribe worship the god of hunting, who is known as 7. Reii-
Mati Deo and resides in a separate tree in each village. At ^'°"". ^^''^'

_ . . . monies at

the Bljphutni (threshing) or harvest festival in the month of hunting.
Chait (March) they have a ceremonial hunting party. All
the people of the village collect, each man having a bow
and arrow slung to his back and a hatchet on his shoulder.
They spread out a long net in the forest and beat the
animals into this, usually catching a deer, wild pig or hare,
and quails and other birds. They return and cook the game
before the shrine of the god and offer to him a fowl and a
pig. A pit is dug and water poured into it, and a person
from each house must stand in the mud. A little seed taken
from each house is also soaked in the mud, and after the
feast is over this is taken and returned to the householder
with words of abuse, a small present of two or three pice
being received from him. The seed is no doubt thus con-
secrated for the next sowing. The tribe also have joint
ceremonial fishing excursions. Their ideas of a future life
are very vague, and they have no belief in a place of reward or
punishment after death. They propitiate the spirits of their
ancestors on the 15th of Asarh (June) with offerings of a
little rice and incense.

To cure the evil eye they place a little gunpowder in s. Super-
water and apply it to the sufferer's eyes, the idea perhaps
being that the fiery glance from the evil eye which struck
him is quenched like the gunpowder. To bring on rain
they perform a frog marriage, tying two frogs to a pestle
and pouring oil and turmeric over them as in a real
marriage. The children carry them round begging from
door to door and finally deposit them in water. They say
that when rain falls and the sun shines together the jackals
are being married. Formerly a woman suspected of being
a witch was tied up in a bag and thrown into a river or tank

StltlOUS

remedies.

276 BHATRA part

at various places set apart for the purpose. If she sank she
was held to be innocent, and if she floated, guilty. In the
latter case she had to defile herself by taking the bone of a
cow and the tail of a pig in her mouth, and it was supposed
that this drove out the magic-working spirit. In the case
of illness of their children or cattle, or the failure of crops,
they consult the Pujari or priest and make an offering. He
applies some flowers or grains of rice to the forehead of the
deity, and when one of these falls down he diagnoses from
it the nature of the illness, and gives it to the sufferer to
wear as a charm.

9. Occupa- The tribe are cultivators and farmservants, and practise
^'°"- shifting cultivation. They work as village watchmen and

also as the Majhi or village headman and the Pujari or
village priest. These officials are paid by contributions of
grain from the cultivators. And as already seen, the Bhatras
are employed as household servants and will clean cooking-
vessels. Since they act as village priests, it may perhaps be
concluded that the Bhatras like the Parjas are older residents
of Bastar than the bulk of the Gonds, and they have become
the household servants of the Hindu immigrants, which the
Gonds would probably disdain to do. Some of them wear
the sacred thread, but in former times the Bastar Raja would
invest any man with this for a fee of four or five rupees, and
the Bhatras therefore purchased the social distinction. They
find it inconvenient, however, and lay it aside when proceed-
ing to their work or going out to hunt. If a man breaks
his thread he must wait till a Brahman comes round, when
he can purchase another.

10. Names. Among a list of personal names given by Mr. Baijnath

the following are of some interest : Pillu, one of short
stature ; Matola, one who learnt to walk late ; Phagu,
born in Phagun (February) ; Ghinu, dirty-looking ; Dasru,
born on the Dasahra festival ; Ludki, one with a fleshy ear ;
Dalu, big-bellied ; Mudi, a ring, this name having been
given to a child which cried much after birth, but when its
nose was pierced and a ring put in it stopped crying ; Chhi,
given to a child which sneezed immediately after birth ;
Nunha, a posthumous child ; and Bhuklu, a child which
began to play almost as soon as born. The above instances

II NAMES 277

indicate that it is a favourite plan to select the name from
any characteristic displayed by the child soon after birth, or
from any circumstance or incident connected with its birth.
Among names of women are : Cherangi, thin ; Fundi, one
with swollen cheeks ; Kandri, one given to crying ; Mahlna
(month), a child born a month late ; Batai, one with large
eyes ; Gaida, fat ; Pakli, of fair colour ; Boda, one with
crooked legs ; Jhunki, one with small eyes ; Rupi, a girl
who was given a nose-ring of silver as her brothers had
died ; Paro^ born on a field-embankment ; Dango, tall. A
woman must not call by their names her father-in-law,
mother-in-law, her husband's brothers and elder sisters and
the sons and daughters of her husband's brothers and sisters.

BHIL

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. General notice. The Bhils a 7.

Kolarian tribe.

2. Rajputs deriving their title to 8.

the land from the Bhils. 9.

3. Historical notice. 10.

4. General Out ram and the 11.

Khdndesh Bhtl Corps. 12.

5 . Siibdivisio7is.

6. Exogamy and marriage ciis- 13.

to)ns. 1 4.

Widoiv-marriage, divorce and
polygamy.

Religion.

Witchcraft and amulets.

Funeral rites.

Social custojns.

Appeara7ice and character-
istics.

Occupation.

Language.

I. General
notice.
The Bhils
a Kolarian
tribe.

Bhll.^ — An indigenous or non-Aryan tribe which has
been much in contact with the Hindus and is consequently-
well known. The home of the Bhils is the country com-
prised in the hill ranges of Khandesh, Central India and
Rajputana, west from the Satpuras to the sea in Gujarat.
The total number of Bhils in India exceeds a million and a
half, of which the great bulk belong to Bombay, Rajputana
and Central India. The Central Provinces have only about
28,000, practically all of whom reside in the Nimar district,
on the hills forming the western end of the Satpura range
and adjoining the Rajpipla hills of Khandesh. As the
southern slopes of these hills lie in Berar, a few Bhils are
also found there. The name Bhil seems to occur for the
first time about A.D. 600. It is supposed to be derived from
the Dravidian word for a bow, which is the characteristic
weapon of the tribe. It has been suggested that the Bhils

^ The principal authorities on the
Bhils are : An Account of the Alewdr
Bhils, by Major P. 11. Hendley,
f.A.S.B. vol. xliv., 1875, PP- 347-385 ;
the Bombay Gazetteer, vol. ix., Hindus

of Gujarat ; and notices in Colonel
Tod's Rcyasthdn, Mr. A. L. Forbes's
Rdsmala, and The Khandesh Bhil
Corps, by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox,
C.S.

^78

PA in II RAJPUTS AND THEIR TII'LE TO T//J-: LAND 279

are the Pygmies referred to by Ktesias (400 H.c.) and the
Phylhtae of Ptolemy (a.u. 150). The Bhils are recognised
as the oldest inhabitants of southern Rajputana and parts of
Gujarat, and are usually spoken of in conjunction witli the
Kolis, who inhabit the adjoining tracts of Gujarat. The
most probable hypotheilsis of the origin of the Kolis is that
they are a western branch of the Kol or Munda tribe who
have spread from Chota Nagpur, through Mandla and
Jubbulpore, Central India and Rajputana to Gujarat and
the sea. If this is correct the Kolis would be a Kolarian
tribe. The Bhils have lost their own language, so that it
cannot be ascertained whether it was Kolarian or Dravidian.
But there is nothing against its being Kolarian in Sir
G. Grierson's opinion ; and in view of the length of residence
of the tribe, the fact that they have abandoned their own
language and their association with the Kolis, this view may
be taken as generally probable. The Dravidian tribes have
not penetrated so far west as Central India and Gujarat in
appreciable numbers.

The Rajputs still recognise the Bhils as the former 2. Rajputs
residents and occupiers of the land by the fact that some their'"^
Rajput chiefs must be marked on the brow with a Bhll's title to the

,,, . iz-rf 1 1- T-j l^"d from

blood on accession to the Gaddi or regal cushion. 1 od ^^^^ ghOs.
relates how Goha,^ the eponymous ancestor of the Sesodia
Rajputs, took the state of Idar in Gujarat from a Bhil :
" At this period Idar was governed by a chief of the
savage race of Bhils. The young Goha frequented the
forests in company with the Bhils, whose habits better
assimilated with his daring nature than those of the Brah-
mans. He became a favourite with these vena-putras or
sons of the forest, who resigned to him Idar with its woods
and mountains. The Bhils having determined in sport to
elect a king, their choice fell on Goha ; and one of the young
savages, cutting his finger, applied the blood as the badge
{tikd) of sovereignty to his forehead. What was done in
sport was confirmed by the old forest chief. The sequel
fixes on Goha the stain of ingratitude, for he slew his

1 The old name of the Sesodia clan, for a notice of the real origin of the
Gahlot, is held to be derived from this clan.
Goha. See the article Rajput Sesodia

28o BHIL PART

benefactor, and no motive is assigned in the legend for the
deed." ^

The legend is of course a euphemism for the fact that
the Rajputs conquered and dispossessed the Bhils of
Idar. But it is interesting as an indication that they did
not consider themselves to derive a proper title to the land
merely from the conquest, but wished also to show that it
passed to them by the designation and free consent of the
Bhils. The explanation is perhaps that they considered the
gods of the Bhils to be the tutelary guardians and owners of
the land, whom they must conciliate before they could hope to
enjoy it in quiet and prosperity. This token of the devolution
of the land from its previous holders, the Bhils, was till recently
repeated on the occasion of each succession of a Sesodia
chief " The Bhil landholders of Oguna and Undri still
claim the privilege of performing the tlka for the Sesodias.
The Oguna Bhil makes the mark of sovereignty on the
chief's forehead with blood drawn from his own thumb, and
then takes the chief by the arm and seats him on the
throne, while the Undri Bhil holds the salver of spices and
sacred grains of rice used in making the badge." ^ The
story that Goha killed the old Bhil chief, his benefactor,
who had adopted him as heir and successor, which fits in
very badly with the rest of the legend, is probably based
on another superstition. Sir J. G. Frazer has shown in The
Golden Bough that in ancient times it was a common
superstition that any one who killed the king had a right to
succeed him. The belief was that the king was the god
of the country, on whose health, strength and efficiency its
prosperity depended. When the king grew old and weak
it was time for a successor, and he who could kill the king
proved in this manner that the divine power and strength
inherent in the late king had descended to him, and he was
therefore the fit person to be king.^ An almost similar
story is told of the way in which the Kachhwaha Rajputs
took the territory of Amber State from the Mina tribe.
The infant Rajput prince had been deprived of Narwar by

' RajastJidii, i. p. 184. Golden Botigh for the full explana-

^ Ibidem, p. 1S6. tion and illustration of this super-

3 Reference may be made to The stition.

II HISTORICAL NOTICE 281

his uncle, and his mother wandered forth carryinc^ him in a
basket, till she came to the capital of the Minas, where she
first obtained employment in the chiefs kitchen. But
owing to her good cooking she attracted his wife's notice
and ultimately disclosed her identity and told her story.
The Mina chief then adopted her as his sister and the boy
as his nephew. This boy, Dhola Rai, on growing up
obtained a (cw Rajput adherents and slaughtered all the
Minas while they were bathing at the feast of Diwali, after
which he usurped their country.^ The repetition both of
the adoption and the ungrateful murder shows the import-
ance attached by the Rajputs to both beliefs as necessary to
the validity of their succession and occupation of the land.

The position of the- Bhlls as the earliest residents of
the country was also recognised by their employment in
the capacity of village watchmen. One of the duties of
this official is to know the village boundaries and keep
watch and ward over them, and it was supposed that the
oldest class of residents would know them best. The Bhlls
worked in the office of Mankar, the superior village watch-
man, in Nimar and also in Berar. Grant Duff states " that
the Ramosi or Bhil was emplo)'ed as village guard by the
Marathas, and the Ramosis were a professional caste of
village policemen, probably derived from the Bhlls or from
the Bhlls and Kolis.

The Rajputs seem at first to have treated the Bhlls 3. Histori-
leniently. Intermarriage was frequent, especially in the
families of BhIl chieftains, and a new caste called Bhilala ^
has arisen, which is composed of the descendants of mixed
Rajput and Bhil marriages. Chiefs and landholders in
the Bhll country now belong to this caste, and it is
possible that some pure Bhll families may have been
admitted to it. The Bhilalas rank above the Bhlls, on a
level with the cultivating castes. Instances occasionally
occurred in which the children of a Rajput by a Bhll wife
became Rajputs. When Colonel Tod wrote, Rajputs would
still take food with Ujla Bhlls or those of pure aboriginal
descent, and all castes would take water from them."* But

1 RSjasthan, ii. pp. 320, 321. 3 gee article.

"^History of the Alardihas, i. p. 28. "* Rajasthan, ii. p. 466.

282 BHIL PART

as Hinduism came to be more orthodox in Rajputana, the
Bhils sank to the position of outcastes. Their custom of
eating beef had always caused them to be much despised.
A tradition is related that one day the god Mahadeo or
Siva, sick and unhappy, was reclining in a shady forest when
a beautiful woman appeared, the first sight of whom effected
a cure of all his complaints. An intercourse between the
god and the strange female was established, the result of
which was many children ; one of whom, from infancy
distinguished alike by his ugliness and vice, slew the favourite
bull of Mahadeo, for which crime he was expelled to the
woods and mountains, and his descendants have ever since
been stigmatised by the names of Bhil and Nishada.^
Nishada is a term of contempt applied to the lowest out-
castes. Major Hendley, writing in 1875, states: "Some
time since a Thakur (chief) cut off the legs of two Bhils,
eaters of the sacred cow, and plunged the stumps into boiling
oil." ^ When the Marathas began to occupy Central India
they treated the Bhils with great cruelty. A BhIl caught
in a disturbed part of the country was without inquiry flogged
and hanged. Hundreds were thrown over high cliffs, and
large bodies of them, assembled under promise of pardon,
were beheaded or blown from guns. Their women were
mutilated or smothered by smoke, and their children smashed
to death against the stones.^ This treatment may to some
extent have been deserved owing to the predatory habits and
cruelty of the Bhils, but its result was to make them utter
savages with their hand against every man, as they believed
that every one's was against them. From their strongholds
in the hills they laid waste the plain country, holding villages
and towns to ransom and driving off cattle ; nor did any
travellers pass with impunity through the hills except in
convoys too large to be attacked. In Khandesh, during the
disturbed period of the wars of Sindhia and Holkar, about
A.D. I 800, the Bhils betook themselves to highway robbery
and lived in bands either in mountains or in villages im-
mediately beneath them. The revenue contractors were

1 Malcolm, Memoir of Central (1875), p. 369.
India, i. p. 518. ^ Hyderabad Census Report (1891),

"^ An Account of the Bhils, J.A.S.B. p. 218.

Bemrose, Collo., Derby.
TANTIA BHTL, a FAMOUS DACOIT.

II HISTORICAL NOTICE 283

unable or unwilling to spend money in the maintenance
of soldiers to protect the country, and the Bhils in a very
short time became so bold as to appear in bands of hundreds
and attack towns, carrying off either cattle or hostages, for
whom they demanded handsome ransoms.^ In Gujarat
another writer described the Bhils and Kolis as hereditary
and professional plunderers — ' Soldiers of the night,' as they
themselves said they were." Malcolm said of them, after
peace had been restored to Central India :^ "Measures are
in progress that will, it is expected, soon complete the re-
formation of a class of men who, believing themselves doomed
to be thieves and plunderers, have been confirmed in their
destiny by the oppression and cruelty of neighbouring govern-
ments, increased by an avowed contempt for them as out-
casts. The feeling this system of degradation has produced
must be changed ; and no effort has been left untried to
restore this race of men to a better sense of their condition
than that which they at present entertain. The common
answer of a Bhil when charged with theft or robbery is, ' I
am not to blame ; I am the thief of Mahadeo ' ; in other
words, ' My destiny as a thief has been fixed by God.' "
The Bhil chiefs, who were known as Bhumia, exercised the
most absolute power, and their orders to commit the most
atrocious crimes were obeyed by their ignorant but attached
subjects without a conception on the part of the latter that
they had an option when he whom they termed their Dhunni
(Lord) issued the mandates.'* firearms and swords were
only used by the chiefs and headmen of the tribe, and their
national weapon was the bamboo bow having the bowstring
made from a thin strip of its elastic bark. The quiver was
a piece of strong bamboo matting, and would contain sixty
barbed arrows a yard long, and tipped with an iron spike
either flattened and sharpened like a knife or rounded like a
nail ; other arrows, used for knocking over birds, had knob-
like heads. Thus armed, the Bhils would lie in wait in some
deep ravine by the roadside, and an infernal yell announced
their attack to the unwary traveller.^ Major Hendley states

^ The Kliandesh Bhil Corps, by Mr ^ Metnoir of Central India, ■ i. pp.

A. H. A. Simcox. 525, 526.

■* Ibidem, i. p. 550.
2 Forbes, RdsmCxla, i. p. 104. " Hobson-Jobson, art, Bhil.

284

BHIL

that according to tradition in the Mahabharata the god
Krishna was killed by a Bhll's arrow, when he was fighting
against them in Gujarat with the Yadavas ; and on this
account it was ordained that the Bhil should never again be
able to draw the bow with the forefinger of the right hand.
" Times have changed since then, but I noticed in examining
their hands that few could move the forefinger without the
second finger ; indeed the fingers appeared useless as in-
dependent members of the hands. In connection with this
may be mentioned their apparent inability to distinguish
colours or count numbers, due alone to their want of words
to express themselves." ^

The reclamation and pacification of the Bhlls is insepar-
ably associated with the name of Lieutenant, afterwards Sir
James, Outram. The Khandesh BhIl Corps was first raised
by him in 1825, when Bhil robber bands were being hunted
down by small parties of troops, and those who were willing
to surrender were granted a free pardon for past offences,
and given grants of land for cultivation and advances for the
purchase of seed and bullocks. When the first attempts to
raise the corps were made, the Bhlls believed that the object
was to link them in line like galley-slaves with a view to
extirpate the race, that blood was in high demand as a
medicine in the country of their foreign masters, and so on.
Indulging the wild men with feasts and entertainments, and
delighting them with his matchless urbanity. Captain Outram
at length contrived to draw over to the cause nine recruits,
one of whom was a notorious plunderer who had a short
time before successfully robbed the officer commanding a
detachment sent against him. This infant corps soon
became strongly attached to the person of their new chief
and entirely devoted to his wishes ; their goodwill had been
won by his kind and conciliatory manners, while their ad-
miration and respect had been thoroughly roused and excited
by his prowess and valour in the chase. On one occasion,
it is recorded, word was brought to Outram of the presence
of a panther in some prickly-pear shrubs on the side of a
hill near his station. He went to shoot it with a friend,
Outram being on foot and his friend on horseback searching

' An Accoimt of the Bhlls, p. 369.

II SUBDIVISIONS 285

through the bushes. When close on the animal, Outrain's
friend fired and missed, on which the panther sprang forward
roaring and seized Outram, and they rolled down the hill
together. Being released from the claws of the furious
beast for a moment, Outram with great presence of mind
drew a pistol which he had with him, and shot the panther
dead. The IMills, on seeing that he had been injured, were
one and all loud in their grief and expressions of regret,
when Outram quieted them with the remark, ' What do I
care for the clawing of a cat ? ' and this saying long re-
mained a proverb among the Bhlls.^ By his kindness and
sympathy, listening freely to all that each single man in the
corps had to say to him, Outram at length won their con-
fidence, convinced them of his good faith and dissipated their
fears of treachery. Soon the ranks of the corps became full,
and for every vacant place there were numbers of applicants.
The Bhils freely hunted down and captured their friends and
relations who continued to create disturbances, and brought
them in for punishment. Outram managed to check their
propensity for liquor by paying them every day just sufificient
for their food, and giving them the balance of their pay at
the end of the month, when some might have a drinking
bout, but many preferred to spend the money on ornaments
and articles of finery. With the assistance of the corps the
marauding tendencies of the hill Bhils were suppressed and
tranquillity restored to Khandesh, which rapidly became one
of the most fertile parts of India. During the Mutiny the
Bhil corps remained loyal, and did good service in checking
the local outbursts which occurred in Khandesh. A second
battalion was raised at this time, but was disbanded three
years afterwards. After this the corps had little or nothing
to do, and as the absence of fighting and the higher wages
which could be obtained by ordinary labour ceased to render
it attractive to the Bhils, it was finally converted into police
in 1891.^

The Bhils of the Central Provinces have now only two 5- Sub-
subdivisions, the Muhammadan Bhils, who were forcibly con-
verted to Islam during the time of Aurangzeb, and the
remainder, who though retaining many animistic beliefs and

^ The Khandesh Bhll Corps, p. 71. ^ Ibidem, p. 275.

286 BHiL PART

superstitions, have practically become Hindus. The
Muhammadan Bhils only number about 3000 out of 28,000.
They are known as Tadvi, a name which was formerly
applied to a Bhil headman, and is said to be derived from
tad, meaning a separate branch or section. These Bhlls
marry among themselves and not with any other Muham-
madans. They retain many Hindu and animistic usages,
and are scarcely Muhammadan in more than name. Both
classes are divided into groups or septs, generally named
after plants or animals to which they still show reverence.
Thus the Jamania sept, named after the jdman tree,^ will
not cut or burn any part of this tree, and at their weddings
the dresses of the bride and bridegroom are taken and
rubbed against the tree before being worn. Similarly the
Rohini sept worship the r'o/iau" tree, the Avalia sept the
aonla ^ tree, the Meheda sept the baJicra ^ tree, and so on.
The Mori sept worship the peacock. They go into the
jungle and look for the tracks of a peacock, and spreading
a piece of red cloth before the footprint, lay their offerings
of grain upon it. Members of this sept may not be tattooed,
because they think the splashes of colour on the peacock's
feathers are tattoo-marks. Their women must veil them-
selves if they see a peacock, and they think that if any
member of the sept irreverently treads on a peacock's foot-
prints he will fall ill. The Ghodmarya (Horse-killer) sept
may not tame a horse nor ride one. The Masrya sept will
not kill or eat fish. The Sanyan or cat sept have a tradition
that one of their ancestors was once chasing a cat, which
ran for protection under a cover which had been put over
the stone figure of their goddess. The goddess turned the
cat into stone and sat on it, and since then members of the
sept will not touch a cat except to save it from harm, and
they will not eat anything which has been touched by a cat.
The Ghattaya sept worship the grinding mill at their wed-
dings and also on festival days. The Solia sept, whose name
is apparently derived from the sun, are split up into four
subsepts : the Ada Solia, who hold their weddings at sunrise ;
the Japa Solia, who hold them at sunset ; the Taria Solia,

1 Eugenia jainbolana. ^ Phyllanthus et?iblica.

2 Soymidafebrifuga. ■* Terinmalia belerica.

II EXOGAMY AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 287

who hold them when stars have become visible after sunset ;
and the Tar Solia, who believe their name is connected with
cotton thread and wrap several skeins of raw thread round
tlie bride and bridegroom at the wedding ceremony. The
Moharia sept worship the local goddess at the village of
Moharia in Indore State, who is known as the Moharia
Mata ; at their weddings they apply turmeric and oil to the
fingers of the goddess before rubbing them on the bride and
bridegroom. The Maoli sept worship a goddess of that
name in Barwani town. Her shrine is considered to be in
the shape of a kind of grain-basket known as kilia, and
members of the sept may never make or use baskets of this
shape, nor may they be tattooed with representations of it.
Women of the sept are not allowed to visit the shrine of
the goddess, but may worship her at home. Several septs
have the names of Rajpiit clans, as Sesodia, Panwar, Mori,
and appear to have originated in mixed unions between
Rajputs and Bhils.

A man must not marry in his own sept nor in the 6. Exo-
families of his mothers and grandmothers. The union of niTrriage
first cousins is thus prohibited, nor can girls be exchanged customs,
in marriage between two families. A wife's sister may also
not be married during the wife's lifetime. The Muham-
madan Bhils permit a man to marry his maternal uncle's
daughter, and though he cannot marry his wife's sister he
may keep her as a concubine. Marriages may be infant or
adult, but the former practice is becoming prevalent and
girls are often wedded before they are eleven. Matches are
arranged by the parents of the parties in consultation with
the caste pancJidyat ; but in Bombay girls may select their
own husbands, and they have also a recognised custom of
elopement at the Tosina fair in the month of the Mahi
Kantha. If a Bhil can persuade a girl to cross the river
there with him he may claim her as his wife ; but if they
are caught before getting across he is liable to be punished
by the bride's father.^ The betrothal and wedding cere-
monies now follow the ordinary ritual of the middle and
lower castes in the Maratha country." The bride must be

1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 309.
'^ See article Kunbi.

288 BHIL PART

younger than the bridegroom except in the case of a widow.
A bride-price is paid which may vary from Rs. 9 to 20 ; in
the case of Muhammadan Bhils the bridegroom is said to
give a dowry of Rs. 20 to 25. When the ovens are made
with the sacred earth they roast some of the large millet
juari ^ for the family feast, calling this Juari Mata or the
grain goddess. Offerings of this are made to the family
gods, and it is partaken of only by the members of the
bride's and bridegroom's septs respectively at their houses.
No outsider may even see this food being eaten. The
leavings of food, with the leaf-plates on which it was eaten,
are buried inside the house, as it is believed that if they
should fall into the hands of any outsider the death or
blindness of one of the family will ensue. When the bride-
groom reaches the bride's house he strikes the marriage-shed
with a dagger or other sharp instrument. A goat is killed
and he steps in its blood as he enters the shed. A day for
the wedding is selected by the priest, but it may also take
place on any Sunday in the eight fine months. If the wed-
ding takes place on the eleventh day of Kartik, that is on
the expiration of the four rainy months when marriages are
forbidden, they make a little hut of eleven stalks of juari
with their cobs in the shape of a cone, and the bride and
bridegroom walk round this. The services of a Brahman
are not required for such a wedding. Sometimes the bride-
groom is simply seated in a grain basket and the bride in
a winnowing- fan ; then their hands are joined as the sun
is half set, and the marriage is completed. The bridegroom
takes the basket and fan home with him. On the return of
the wedding couple, their kankans or wristbands are taken
off at Hanuman's temple. The Muhammadan BhIls perform
the same ceremonies as the Hindus, but at the end they
call in the Kazi or registrar, who repeats the Muhammadan
prayers and records the dowry agreed upon. The practice
of the bridegroom serving for his wife is in force among both
classes of Bhils.
7. Widow- The remarriage of widows is permitted, but the widow

marriage, ^ ^^^ marry any relative of her first husband. She

divorce and ■' ■' ■'

polygamy, rctums to her father's house, and on her remarriage they

' Sorghian vulgare.

II RELIGION 2 89

obtain a bride -price of Rs. 40 or 50, a quarter of which
goes in a feast to the tribesmen. The wedding of a widow
is held on the Amawas or last day of the dark fortnight of
the month, or on a Sunday. A wife may be divorced for
adultery without consulting the pmichdyat. It is said that a
wife cannot otherwise be divorced on any account, nor can
a woman divorce her husband, but she may desert him and
go and live with a man. In this case all that is necessary
is that the second husband should repay to the first as com-
pensation the amount expended by the latter on his marriage
with the woman. Polygamy is permitted, and a second wife
is sometimes taken in order to obtain children, but this
number is seldom if ever exceeded. It is stated that the
Bhil married women are generally chaste and faithful to
their husbands, and any attempt to tamper with their virtue
on the part of an outsider is strongly resented by the man.

The Bhlls worship the ordinary Hindu deities and the 8. Reii
village godlings of the locality. The favourite both with ^'°"'
Hindu and Muhammadan Bhlls is Khande Rao or Khandoba,
the war-god of the Marathas, who is often represented by a
sword. The Muhammadans and the Hindu Bhlls also to
a less extent worship the Pirs or spirits of Muhammadan
saints at their tombs, of which there are a number in Nimar.
Major Hendley states that in Mewar the seats or sthdns of
the Bhil gods are on the summits of high hills, and are
represented by heaps of stones, solid or hollowed out in
the centre, or mere platforms, in or near which are found
numbers of clay or mud images of horses.^ In some places
clay lamps are burnt in front of the images of horses, from
which it may be concluded that the horse itself is or was
worshipped as a god. Colonel Tod states that the Bhlls will
eat of nothing white in colour, as a white sheep or goat ;
and their grand adjuration is ' By the white ram.' ^ Sir
A. Lyall ^ says that their principal oath is by the dog. The
Bhil sepoys told Major Hendley that they considered it of
little use to go on worshipping their own gods, as the power
of these had declined since the English became supreme.
They thought the strong English gods were too much for

^ Loc. cit. p. 347. - Western India.

^ Asiatic Studies, ist series, p. 174.

VOL. II U

craft and
amulets

290 BHIL PART

the weak deities of their country, hence they were desirous of
embracing Brahmanism, which would also raise them in the
social scale and give them a better chance of promotion in
regiments where there were Brahman officers.
9. Witch- They wear charms and amulets to keep off evil spirits ;

the charms are generally pieces of blue string with seven
knots in them, which their witch- finder or Badwa ties,
reciting an incantation on each ; the knots were sometimes
covered with metal to keep them undefiled and the charms
were tied on at the Holi, Dasahra or some other festival.^
In Bombay the Bhlls still believe in witches as the agents
of any misfortunes that may befall them. If a man was
sick and thought some woman had bewitched him, the
suspected woman was thrown into a stream or swung
from a tree. If the branch broke and the woman fell and
suffered serious injury, or if she could not swim across the
stream and sank, she was considered to be innocent and
efforts were made to save her. But if she escaped without
injury she was held to be a witch, and it frequently happened
that the woman would admit herself to be one either from
fear of the infliction of a harder ordeal, or to keep up the
belief in her powers as a witch, which often secured her a
free supper of milk and chickens. She would then admit
that she had really bewitched the sick man and undertake
to cure him on some sacrifice being made. If he recovered,
the animal named by the witch was sacrificed and its blood
given her to drink while still warm ; either from fear or in
order to keep up the character she would drink it, and
would be permitted to stay on in the village. If, on the
other hand, the sick person died, the witch would often be
driven into the forest to die of hunger or to be devoured
by wild animals.""' These practices have now disappeared
in the Central Provinces, though occasionally murders of
suspected witches may still occur. The BhTls are firm
believers in omens, the nature of which is much the same
as among the Hindus. When a Bhil is persistently unlucky
in hunting, he sometimes says ' Nat laga,' meaning that
some bad spirit is causing his ill-success. Then he will

' Asiatic Studies , 1st series, p. 352.
2 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 302.

ri FUNERAL KITES— SOCIAL CUSTOMS 291

make an image of a man in the sand or dust of the road,
or sometimes two images of a man and woman, and throw-
ing straw or grass over the images set it ah'ght, and pound
it down on them with a stick with abusive yells. This he
calls killing his bad luck.^ Major Hendley notes that the
men danced before the different festivals and before battles.
The men danced in a ring holding sticks and striking them
against each other, much like the Baiga dance. Before
battle they had a war-dance in which the performers were
armed and imitated a combat. To be carried on the
shoulders of one of the combatants was a great honour,
perhaps because it symbolised being on horseback. The
dance was probably in the nature of a magical rite, designed
to obtain success in battle by going through an imitation of
it beforehand. The priests are the chief physicians among
the Bhils, though most old men were supposed to know
something about medicine."

The dead are usually buried lying on the back, with the 10. Funeral
head pointing to the south. Cooked food is placed on the "^^^'
bier and deposited on the ground half-way to the cemetery.
On return each family of the sept brings a wheaten cake to
the mourners and these are eaten. On the third day they
place on the grave a thick cake of wheaten flour, water in
an earthen pot and tobacco or any other stimulant which
the deceased was in the habit of using in his life.

The Hindu Bhlls say that they do not admit outsiders "• Social
into the caste, but the Muhammadans will admit a man of
any but the impure castes. The neophyte must be shaved
and circumcised, and the Kazi gives him some holy water to
drink and teaches him the profession of belief in Islam. If
a man is not circumcised, the Tadvi or Muhammadan Bhils
will not bury his body. Both classes of Bhils employ
Brahmans at their ceremonies. The tribe eat almost all
kinds of flesh and drink liquor, but the Hindus now abjure
beef and the Muhammadans pork. Some Bhils now refuse
to take the skins off dead cattle, but others will do so.
The Bhils will take food from any caste except the impure
ones, and none except these castes will now take food from

' Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xii. p. 87.
2 An Account of the Bhlls, pp. 362, 363.

BHIL

12. Ap-
pearance
and char-
acteristics.

13. Occu-
pation.

them. Temporary or permanent exclusion from caste is
imposed for the same offences as among the Hindus.

The t}-pical Bhil is small, dark, broad-nosed and ugly,
but well built and active. The average height of 128 men
measured by Major Hendley was 5 feet 6.4 inches. The
hands are somewhat small and the legs fairly developed,
those of the women being the best. " The Bhil is an
excellent woodsman, knows the shortest cuts over the hills,
can walk the roughest paths and climb the steepest crags
without slipping or feeling distressed. He is often called in
old Sanskrit works Venaputra, ' child of the forest,' or Pal
Indra, ' lord of the pass.' These names well describe his
character. His country is approached through narrow
defiles (/'c?/), and through these none could pass without his
permission. In former days he always levied rakhivdli or
blackmail, and even now native travellers find him quite
ready to assert what he deems his just rights. The Bhil
is a capital huntsman, tracking and marking down tigers,
panthers and bears, knowing all their haunts, the best
places to shoot them, the paths they take and all those
points so essential to success in big-game shooting ; they
will remember for years the spots where tigers have been
disposed of, and all the circumstances connected with their
deaths. The Bhil will himself attack a leopard, and with
his sword, aided by his friends, cut him to pieces." ^ Their
agility impressed the Hindus, and an old writer says :
" Some Bhil chieftains who attended the camp of Sidhraj,
king of Gujarat, astonished him with their feats of activity ;
in his army they seemed as the followers of Hanuman in
attendance upon Ram." ^

The Bhils have now had to abandon their free use of the
forests, which was highl)'- destructive in its effects, and their
indiscriminate slaughter of game. Many of them live in the
open country and have become farmservants and field-
labourers. A certain proportion are tenants, but very few-
own villages. Some of the Tadvi Bhils, however, still
retain villages which were originally granted free of revenue
on condition of their keeping the hill-passes of the Satpijras

' Account of the Mewar Bhils, pp. 357, 3 5 8.
^ Forbes, Rdsmdla, i. p. 113.

II B HI LA LA 293

open and safe for travellers. These are known as Hattiwala.
lihils also serve as village watchmen in Nimar and the
adjoining tracts of the Berar Districts. Captain Forsyth,
writing- in 1868, described the Bhils as follows: "The
Muhammadan Bhils are with few exceptions a miserable lot,
idle and thriftless, and steeped in the deadly vice of opium-
eating. The unconverted Bhils are held to be tolerably
reliable. When they borrow money or stock for cultivation
they seldom abscond fraudulently from their creditors, and
this simple honesty of theirs tends, I fear, to keep numbers
of them still in a state little above serfdom." ^

The Bhils have now entirely abandoned their own m- Langu
language and speak a corrupt dialect based on the Aryan ^^^'
vernaculars current around them. The Bhil dialect is
mainly derived from Gujarati, but it is influenced by Marwari
and Marathi ; in Nimar especially it becomes a corrupt
form of Marathi. Bhili, as this dialect is called, contains a
number of non-Aryan words, some of which appear to come
from the Mundari, and others from the Dravidian languages ;
but these are insufficient to form any basis for a deduction
as to whether the Bhils belonged to the Kolarian or
Dravidian race."

Bhilala.^ — A small caste found in the Nimar and i- General
Hoshangabad Districts of the Central Provinces and in "°^''^^-
Central India. The total strength of the Bhilalas is
about 150,000 persons, most of whom reside in the
Bhopawar Agency, adjoining Nimar. Only 15,000 were
returned from the Central Provinces in 191 1. The
Bhilalas are commonly considered, and the general belief
may in their case be accepted as correct, to be a mixed
caste sprung from the alliances of immigrant Rajputs with
the Bhils of the Central India hills. The original term was
not improbably Bhilwala, and may have been applied to
those Rajput chiefs, a numerous body, who acquired small
estates in the Bhil country, or to those who took the daughters
of Bhil chieftains to wife, the second course being often no

1 Niindr Settlement Report, i^y^. 2\(}, ^ fhis article is based mainly on

247. Captain Forsyth's Nimar Settlement

'^ Sir G. Grierson, Linguistic Survey Report, and a paper by Mr. T. T.

of India, vol. ix. part iii. pp. 6-9. Korke, Pleader, Khandwa.

294 BHILALA part

doubt a necessary preliminary to the first. Several Bhilala
families hold estates in Nimar and Indore, and their chiefs
now claim to be pure Rajputs. The principal Bhilala houses,
as those of Bhamgarh, Selani and Mandhata, do not inter-
marry with the rest of the caste, but only among themselves
and with other families of the same standing in Malwa and
Holkar's Nimar. On succession to the Gaddi or headship of
the house, representatives of these families are marked with a
tlka or badge on the forehead and sometimes presented with
a sword, and the investiture may be carried out by custom
by the head of another house. Bhilala landholders usually
have the title of Rao or Rawat. They do not admit that a
Bhilala can now spring from intermarriage between a Rajput
and a Bhil. The local Brahmans will take water from them
and they are occasionally invested with the sacred thread at
the time of marriage. The Bhilala Rao of Mandhata is
hereditary custodian of the great shrine of Siva at Onkar
Mandhata on an island in the Nerbudda. According to the
traditions of the family, their ancestor, Bharat Singh, was a
Chauhan Rajpiit, who took Mandhata from Nathu Bhil in
A.D. I 165, and restored the worship of Siva to the island,
which had been made inaccessible to pilgrims by the terrible
deities, Kali and Bhairava, devourers of human flesh. In
such legends may be recognised the propagation of Hinduism
by the Rajpiit adventurers and the reconsecration of the
aboriginal shrines to its deities. Bharat Singh is said to
have killed Nathu Bhil, but it is more probable that he
only married his daughter and founded a Bhilala family.
Similar alliances have taken place among other tribes, as
the Korku chiefs of the Gawilgarh and Mahadeo hills, and
the Gond princes of Garha Mandla. The Bhilalas generally
resemble other Hindus in appearance, showing no marked
signs of aboriginal descent. Very probably they have all
an infusion of Rajput blood, as the Rajputs settled in the
Bhil country in some strength at an early period of history.
The caste have, however, totemistic group names ; they will
eat fowls and drink liquor ; and they bury their dead with
the feet to the north, all these customs indicating a Dravidian
origin. Their subordinate position in past times is shown
by the fact that they will accept cooked food from a Kunbi

II MARRIAGE 295

or a Gujar ; and indeed the status of all except the chiefs
families would naturally have been a low one, as they were
practically the offspring of kept women. As already stated,
the landowning families usually arrange alliances among
themselves. Below these comes the body of the caste and
below them is a group known as the Chhoti Tad or bastard
Bhilalas, to which are relegated the progeny of irregular
unions and persons expelled from the caste for social
offences.

The caste, for the purpose of avoiding marriages between 2. Mar-
relations, are also divided into exogamous groups called "^^^'
kul or kuri, several of the names of which are of totemistic
origin or derived from those of animals and plants. Members
of the Jamra kuri will not cut or burn XhQjdviun ^ tree ; those
of the Saniyar kuri will not grow sa7i-\\ers\\y, while the
Astaryas revere the sona '"^ tree and the Pipaladya, the pipal
tree. Some of the kuris have Rajput sept names, as Mori,
Baghel and Solanki. A man is forbidden to take a wife
from within his own sept or that of his mother, and the
union of first cousins is also prohibited. The customs of the
Bhilalas resemble those of the Kunbis and other cultivating
castes. At their weddings four cart-yokes are arranged in a
square, and inside this are placed two copper vessels filled
with water and considered to represent the Ganges and
Jumna. When the sun is half set, the bride and the bride-
groom clasp hands and then walk seven times round the
square of cart-yokes. The water of the pots is mixed and
this is considered to represent the mingling of the bride's and
bridegroom's personalities as the Ganges and Jumna meet at
Allahabad. A sum of about Rs. 60 is usually paid by the
parents of the bridegroom to those of the bride and is
expended on the ceremony. The ordinary Bhilalas have,
Mr. Korke states, a simple form of wedding which may be
gone through without consulting a Brahman on the Ekadashi
or eleventh of Kartik (October) ; this is the day on which
the gods awake from sleep and marks the commencement
of the marriage season. A cone is erected of eleven plants
of juari, roots and all, and the couple simply walk round this
seven times at night, when the marriage is complete. The

^ Eugenia Jambolatia. 2 B mi hint a raceniosa.

296 BHILALA part

remarriage of widows is permitted. The woman's forehead
is marked with cowdung by another widow, probably as a
rite of purification, and the cloths of the couple are tied
together.

The caste commonly bury the dead and erect memorial
stones at the heads of graves which they worship in the
month of Chait (April), smearing them with vermilion and
making an offering of flowers. This may either be a
Dravidian usage or have been adopted by imitation from
the Muhammadans. The caste worship the ordinary Hindu
deities, but each family has a Kul-devi or household god,
Mr. Korke remarks, to which they pay special reverence.
The offerings made to the Kul-devi must be consumed by
the family alone, but married daughters are allowed to
participate. They employ Nimari Brahmans as their priests,
and also have gurus or spiritual preceptors, who are Gosains
or Bairagis. They will take food cooked with water from
Brahmans, Rajputs, Munda Gujars and Tirole Kunbis. The
last two groups are principal agricultural castes of the
locality and the Bhilalas are probably employed by them
as farmservants, and hence accept cooked food from their
masters in accordance with a common custom. The local
Brahmans of the Nagar, Naramdeo, Balsa and other subcastes
will take water from the hand of a Bhilala. Temporary ex-
communication from caste is imposed for the usual offences,
such as going to jail, getting maggots in a wound, killing
a cow, a dog or a squirrel, committing homicide, being
beaten by a man of low caste, selling shoes at a profit,
committing adultery, and allowing a cow to die with a rope
round its neck ; and further, for touching the corpses of a
cow, cat or horse, or a Barhai (carpenter) or Chamar
(tanner). They will not swear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel,
and if either of the first two animals dies in a house, it is
considered to be impure for a month and a quarter. The
head of the caste committee has the designation of Mandloi,
which is a territorial title borne by several families in
Nimar. He receives a share of the fine levied for the Sarni
or purification ceremony, when a person temporarily expelled
is readmitted into caste. Under the Mandloi is the Kotwal
whose business is to summon the members to the caste

1 1 occur A TION A ND CHA RA CTER 297

assemblies ; he also is paid out of the fines and his office
is hereditary.

The caste are cultivators, farmservants and field-labourers, 4. Occupa-
and a Bhilala also usually held the office of Mankar, a ch"rrcter.
superior kind of Kotwar or village watchman. The Mankar
did no dirty work and would not touch hides, but attended
on any officer who came to the village and acted as a guide.
Where there was a village sarai or rest-house, it was in
charge of the Mankar, who was frequently also known as
zamindar. This may have been a recognition of the ancient
rights of the Bhilalas and Bhils to the country.

Captain Forsyth, Settlement Officer of Nimar, had a 5. Char-
very unfavourable opinion of the Bhilalas, whom he described
as proverbial for dishonesty in agricultural engagements and
worse drunkards than any of the indigenous tribes.^ This
judgment was probably somewhat too severe, but they are
poor cultivators, and a Bhilala's field may often be recognised
by its slovenly appearance.^

A century ago Sir J. Malcolm also wrote very severely
of the Bhilalas : " The Bhilala and Lundi chiefs were the
only robbers in Malwa whom under no circumstances
travellers could trust. There are oaths of a sacred but
obscure kind among those that are Rajputs or who boast
their blood, which are almost a disgrace to take, but which,
they assert, the basest was never known to break before
Mandrup Singh, a Bhilala, and some of his associates,
plunderers on the Nerbudda, showed the example. The
vanity of this race has lately been flattered by their having
risen into such power and consideration that neighbouring
Rajput chiefs found it their interest to forget their prejudices
and to condescend so far as to eat and drink with them.
Hatti Singh, Grassia chief of Nowlana, a Khichi Rajput, and
several others in the vicinity cultivated the friendship of
Nadir, the late formidable Bhilala robber-chief of the Vindhya
range ; and among other sacrifices made by the Rajputs, was
eating and drinking with him. On seeing this take place in
my camp, I asked Hatti Singh whether he was not degraded
by doing so ; he said no, but that Nadir was elevated." "

1 Settlement Report (1869), para. 7ncnt Report.
411. •'* Memoir of Central India, ii. p.

^ Mr. Montgomerie's Ninidr Settle- 156.

298 BHISHTI PART

Bhishti. — A small Muhammadan caste of water-bearers.
Only 26 Bhishtis were shown in the Central Provinces in
1 90 1 and 278 in 1891. The tendency of the lower
Muhammadan castes, as they obtain some education, is to
return themselves simply as Muhammadans, the caste name
being considered derogatory. The Bhishtis are, however,
a regular caste numbering over a lakh of persons in India,
the bulk of whom belong to the United Provinces. Many
of them are converts from Hinduism, and they combine
Hindu and Muhammadan practices. They have gotras
or exogamous sections, the names of which indicate the
Hindu origin of their members, as Huseni Brahman, Samri
Chauhan, Bahmangour and others. They prohibit marriage
within the section and within two degrees of relationship on
the mother's side. Marriages are performed by the Muham-
madan ritual or Nikah, but a Brahman is sometimes asked
to fix the auspicious day, and they erect a marriage-shed.
The bridegroom goes to the bride's house riding on a horse,
and when he arrives drops Rs. 1-4 into a pot of water held
by a woman. The bride whips the bridegroom's horse
with a switch made of flowers. During the marriage the
bride sits inside the house and the bridegroom in the shed
outside. An agent or Vakil with two witnesses goes
to the bride and asks her whether she consents to
marry the bridegroom, and when she gives her consent,
as she always does, they go out and formally communi-
cate it to the Kazi. The dowry is then settled, and the
bond of marriage is sealed. But when the parents of
the bride are poor they receive a bride -price of Rs. "i^o^
from which they pay the dowry. The Bhishtis worship
their leather bag {inashk) as a sort of fetish, and burn
incense before it on Fridays.^ The traditional occupation
of the Bhishti is to supply water, and he is still engaged in
this and other kinds of domestic service. The name is said
to be derived from the Persian bihisht, 'paradise,' and to have
been given to them on account of the relief which their
ministrations afforded to the thirsty soldiery." Perhaps,
too, the grandiloquent name was applied partly in derision,

' Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Bhishti.
^ Elliott's Metnoi7-s of I he Noflh-PVestern Provinces, i. p. 191.

II nmsfrri 299

like similar titles given to other menial servants. 'I'hey
are also known as Mashki o/ Pakliali, after their leathern
water-bag. The leather bag is a distinctive sign of the
Bhishti, but when he puts it away he may be recognised
from the piece of red cloth which he usually wears round
his waist. There is an interesting legend to the effect
that the Bhishti who saved the Emperor Humayun's life at
Chausa, and was rewarded by the tenure of the Imperial
throne for half a day, employed his short lease of power by
providing for his family and friends, and caused his leather
bag to be cut up into rupees, which were gilded and stamped
with the record of his date and reign in order to perpetuate
its memory.^ The story of the Bhishti obtaining his name on
account of the solace which he afforded to the Muhammadan
soldiery finds a parallel in the case of the English army :

The uniform 'e wore

Was nothin' much before,

An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,

For a piece o' twisty rag

An' a goatskin water-bag

Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.

With 'is mussick on 'is back,

'E would skip with our attack.

An' watch us till the bugles made ' Retire,'

An' for all 'is dirty 'ide

'E was white, clear white, inside

When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire.'-^

An excellent description of the Bhishti as a household
servant is contained in Eha's Behind the Bungalow'^ from
which the following extract is taken : " If you ask : Who
is the Bhishti ? I will tell you. Bihisht in the Persian
tongue means Paradise, and a Bihishtee is therefore an
inhabitant of Paradise, a cherub, a seraph, an angel of mercy.
He has no wings ; the painters have misconceived him ; but
his back is bowed down with the burden of a great goat-skin
swollen to bursting with the elixir of life. He walks the
land when the heaven above him is brass and the earth iron,
when the trees and shrubs are languishing and the last blade

^ Crooke's Tribes atid Castes, ii. p. Ballads, ' Gunga Din.'
100. ^ Thacker and Co., London.

" Kudyard Kipling, Barrack- Roooi

300 BHISHTI PART

of grass has given up the struggle for life, when the very
roses smell only of dust, and all day long the roaming dust-
devils waltz about the fields, whirling leaf and grass and corn-
stalk round and round and up and away into the regions of
the sky ; and he unties a leather thong which chokes the
throat of his goat-skin just where the head of the poor old
goat was cut off, and straightway, with a life- reviving gurgle,
the stream called thandha pdni gushes forth, and plant and
shrub lift up their heads and the garden smiles again. The
dust also on the roads is laid, and a grateful incense rises
from the ground, the sides of the water chatti grow dark and
moist and cool themselves in the hot air, and through the
dripping interstices of the khaskJias tattie a chilly fragrance
creeps into the room, causing the mercury in the thermometer
to retreat from its proud place. I like the Bhishti and
respect him. As a man he is temperate and contented,
eating bdjri bread and slaking his thirst with his own element.
And as a servant he is laborious and faithful, rarely shirking
his work, seeking it out rather. For example, we had a
bottle-shaped filter of porous stoneware, standing in a bucket
of water which it was his duty to fill daily ; but the good
man, not content with doing his bare duty, took the plug
out of the filter and filled it too. And all the station knows
how assiduously he fills the rain-gauge." With the con-
struction of water -works in large stations the Bhishti is
losing his occupation, and he is a far less familiar figure to
the present generation of Anglo-Indians than to their pre-
decessors.

Origin Bhoyar/ Bhoir (Honorific titles, Mahajan and Patel). —

A cultivating caste numbering nearly 60,000 persons in 191 1,
and residing principally in the Betul and Chhindwara Districts.
The Bhoyars are not found outside the Central Provinces,
They claim to be the descendants of a band of Panwar
Rajputs, who were defending the town of Dharanagri or
Dhar in Central India when it was besieged by Aurangzeb.
Their post was on the western part of the wall, but they gave
way and fled into the town as the sun was rising, and it

' This article is mainly compiled man Bakre, pleader, Betul, and Munshi
from papers by Mr. Pandurang Laksh- Pyare Lai, ethnographic clerk.

and
traditions.

ir B J 10 YAK 301

shone on their faces. Hence they were called lihoyar from
a word blior meaning morning, because they were seen
running away in the morning. They were put out of caste by
the other Rajputs, and fled to the Central Provinces. The
name may also be a variant of that of the Bhagore Rajputs.
And another derivation is from bhora, a simpleton or timid
person. Their claim to be immigrants from Central India
is borne out by the fact that they still speak a corrupt form
of the Malvvi dialect of Rajputana, which is called after them
Bhoyari, and their Bhats or genealogists come from Malwa.
But they have now entirely lost their position as Rajputs.

The Bhoyars are divided into the Panwari, Dholewar, 2. Suh-
Chaurasia and Daharia subcastes. The Panwars are the '^^^'^^ ^^^

sections.

most numerous and the highest, as claiming to be directly
descended from Panwar Rajputs. They sometimes called
themselves Jagdeo Panwars, Jagdeo being the name of the
king under whom they served in Dharanagri. The Dholewars
take their name from Dhola, a place in Malwa, or from dJioL,
a drum. They are the lowest subcaste, and some of them
keep pigs. It is probable that these subcastes immigrated
with the Malwa Rajas in the fifteenth century, the Dholewars
being the earlier arrivals, and having from the first intermarried
with the local Dravidian tribes. The Daharias take their
name from Dahar, the old name of the Jubbulpore country,
and may be a relic of the domination of the Chedi kings of
Tewar. The name of the Chaurasias is probably derived
from the Chaurasi or tract of eighty-four villages formerly
held by the Betul Korku family of Chandu. The last two
subdivisions are numerically unimportant. The Bhoyars
have over a hundred kuls or exogamous sections. The
names of most of these are titular, but some are territorial
and a few totemistic. Instances of such names are Onkar
(the god Siva), Deshmukh and Chaudhari, headman, Hazari
(a leader of 1000 horse). Gore (fair-coloured), Dongardiya
(a lamp on a hill), Pinjara (a cotton -cleaner), Gadria (a
shepherd), Khaparia (a tyler), Khawasi (a barber), Chiknya
(a sycophant), Kinkar (a slave), Dukhi (penurious), Suplya
toplya (a basket and fan maker), Kasai (a butcher), Gohattya
(a cow -killer), and Kalebhut (black devil). Among the
territorial sections may be mentioned Sonpuria, from Sonpur,

302 BHOYAR part

and Patharia, from the hill country. The name Badnagrya
is also really territorial, being derived from the town of
Badnagar, but the members of the section connect it with
the bad or banyan tree, the leaves of which they refrain from
eating. Two other totemistic gotras are the Baranga and
Baignya, derived from the bdraiig plant {Kydia calycind) and
from the brinjal respectively. Some sections have the names
of Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Parihar and Pan war. This
curiously mixed list of family names appears to indicate that
the Bhoyars originate from a small band of Rajputs who
must have settled in the District about the fifteenth century
as military colonists, and taken their wives from the people
of the country. They may have subsequently been recruited
by fresh bands of immigrants who have preserved a slightly
higher status. They have abandoned their old high position,
and now rank below the ordinary cultivating castes like
Kunbis and Kurmis who arrived later ; while the caste has
probably in times past also been recruited to a considerable
extent by the admission of families of outsiders.
3. Mar- Marriage within the kid or family group is forbidden,

as also the union of first cousins. Girls are usually
married young, and sometimes infants of one or two months
are given in wedlock, while contracts of betrothal are made
for unborn children if they should be of the proper sex, the
mother's womb being touched with kunku or red powder
to seal the agreement. A small dej or price is usually paid
for the bride, amounting to Rs. 5 with 240 lbs. of grain,
and 8 seers of ght and oil. At the betrothal the Joshi or
astrologer is consulted to see whether the names of the
couple make an auspicious conjunction. He asks for the
names of the bride and bridegroom, and if these are found
to be inimical another set of names is given, and the
experiment is continued until a union is obtained which
is astrologically auspicious. In order to provide for this
contingency some Bhoyars give their children ten or twelve
names at birth. If all the names fail, the Joshi invents new
ones of his own, and in some way brings about the auspicious
union to the satisfaction of both parties, who consider it no
business of theirs to pry into the Joshi's calculations or to
question his methods. After the marriage-shed is erected

nage.

MARRIAGE

303

the family god must be invoked to be present at the
ceremony. He is asked to come and take his seat in an
earthen pot containing a h'ghted wick, the pot being sup-
ported on a toy chariot made of sticks. A thread is coiled
round the neck of the jar, and the Bhoyars then place it in
the middle of the house, confident that the god has entered
it, and will ward off all calamities during the marriage.
This is performed by the bJidtnvar ceremony, seven earthen
pots being placed in a row, while the bride and bridegroom
walk round in a circle holding a basket with a lighted lamp
in it. As each circle is completed, one pot is removed.
This always takes place at night. The Dholewars do not
perform the hJiCunvar ceremony, and simply throw sacred
rice on the couple, and this is also done in Wardha.
Sometimes the Bhoyars dispense with the presence of the
Brahman and merely get some rice and juari consecrated by
him beforehand, which they throw on the heads of the
couple, and thereupon consider the marriage complete.
Weddings are generally held in the bright fortnight of
Baisakh (April— May), and sometimes can be completed in a
single day. Widow-marriage is allowed, but it is considered
that the widow should marry a widower and not a bachelor.

The regular occupation of the Bhoyars is agriculture, 4. Occupa-
and they are good cultivators, growing much sugar-cane ''°"-
with well - irrigation. They are industrious, and their
holdings on the rocky soils of the plateau Districts are
often cleared of stones at the cost of much labour. Their
women work in the fields. In Betijl they have the reputation
of being much addicted to drink.

They do not now admit outsiders, but their family 5. Social
names show that at one time they probably did so, and this ^^-'^tus.
laxity of feeling survives in the toleration with which they
readmit into caste a woman who has gone wrong with an
outsider. They eat flesh and fowls, and the Dholewars eat
pork, while as already stated they are fond of liquor. To
have a shoe thrown on his house by a caste-fellow is a
serious degradation for a Bhoyar, and he must break his
earthen pots, clean his house and give a feast. To be
beaten with a shoe by a low caste like Mahar entails shaving
the moustaches and paying a heavy fine, which is spent on a

304 BHOYAR part ii

feast. The Bhoyars do not take food from any caste but
Brahmans, but no caste higher than Kunbis and Mails will
take water from them. In social status they rank somewhat
below Kunbis. In appearance they are well built, and often
of a fair complexion. Unmarried girls generally wear skirts
instead of sdj'is or cloths folding between the legs ; they also
must not wear toe-rings. Women of the Panwar subcaste
wear glass bangles on the left hand, and brass ones on the
right. All women are tattooed. They both burn and bury
the dead, placing the corpse on the pyre with its head to the
south or west, and in Wardha to the north. Here they have
a peculiar custom as regards mourning, which is observed
only till the next Monday or Thursday whichever falls first.
Thus the period of mourning may extend from one to four
days. The Bhoyars are considered in Wardha to be more
than ordinarily timid, and also to be considerable simpletons,
while they stand in much awe of Government officials, and
consider it a great misfortune to be brought into a court of
justice. Very few of them can read and write.

tribe and
its name.

BHUIYA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1 . The tribe and its fiame. 7 . Tribal subdivisions.

2. Distribution of t/ie tribe. 8. E.xogamous septs.

3. Example 0/ the position 0/ the 9. Marriage customs.

aborigines in Hi7idu society. i o. Widow-marriage and divorce.

4. The Bhuiyas a Kolarian tribe. 1 1 . Religion.

5. The Baigas and the Bhuiyas. 12. Religious dancing.

Chhattisgarh the home of the 1 3. Funeral rites and inheritance.
Baigas. 14. Physical appearatice atid occu-

6. The Baigas a branch of the paiion.

Bhuiyas. i 5. Social customs.

Bhuiya, Bhuinhar, Bhumia/ — The name of a very i. The
important tribe of Chota Nagpur, Bengal and Orissa. The
Bhuiyas numbered more than 22,000 persons in the Central
Provinces in 1911, being mainly found in the Sarguja and
Jashpur States. In Bengal and Bihar the Bhuiyas proper
count about half a million persons, while the Musahar and
Khandait castes, both of whom are mainly derived from the
Bhuiyas, total together well over a million.

The name Bhuiya means ' Lord of the soil,' or * Belong-
ing to the soil,' and is a Sanskrit derivative. The tribe have
completely forgotten their original name, and adopted this
designation conferred on them by the immigrant Aryans. The
term Bhuiya, however, is also employed by other tribes and
by some Hindus as a title for landholders, being practically
equivalent to zamindar. And hence a certain confusion
arises, and classes or individuals may have the name of
Bhuiya without belonging to the tribe at all. " In most

^ This article is compiled partly from furnished by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar,
Colonel Dal ton's Ethnology of Bengal pleader, Sambalpur, and papers by
and Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Mr. A. B. Napier, Deputy Commis-
Bengal ; a monograph has also been sioner, Raipur, and Mr. Hira Lai.
VOL. II 305 X

3o6 BHUIYA part

parts of Chota Nagpur," Sir H. Risley says, " there is a well-
known distinction between a Bhuiya by tribe and a Bhuiya
by title. The Bhuiyas of Bonai and Keonjhar described by
Colonel Dalton belong to the former category ; the Bhuiya
Mundas and Oraons to the latter. The distinction will be
made somewhat clearer if it is explained that every ' tribal
Bhuiya ' will as a matter of course describe himself as
Bhuiya, while a member of another tribe will only do so if
he is speaking with reference to a question of land, or desires
for some special reason to lay stress on his status as a land-
holder or agriculturist."

We further find in Bengal and Benares a caste of land-
holders known as Bhuinhar or Babhan, who are generally
considered as a somewhat mixed and inferior group of
Brahman and Rajput origin. Both Sir H. Risley and Mr.
Crooke adopt this view and deny any connection between
the Bhuinhars and the Bhuiya tribes. Babhan appears to
be a corrupt form of Brahman. Mr. Mazumdar, however,
states that Bhuiya is never used in Bengali as an equivalent
for zamlndar or landholder, and he considers that the
Bhuinhars and also the Barah Bhuiyas, a well-known group
of twelve landholders of Eastern Bengal and Assam, belonged
to the Bhuiya tribe. He adduces from Sir E. Gait's History
of Assa})i the fact that the Chutias and Bhuiyas were
dominant in that country prior to its conquest by the
Ahoms in the thirteenth century, and considers that these
Chutias gave their name to Chutia or Chota Nagpur. I am
unable to express any opinion on Mr. Mazumdar's argument,
and it is also unnecessary as the question does not concern
the Central Provinces.
Distribu- The principal home of the Bhuiya tribe proper is the

south of the Chota Nagpur plateau, comprised in the Gang-
pur, Bonai, Keonjhar and Bamra States. " The chiefs of
these States," Colonel Dalton says, " now call themselves
Rajputs ; if they be so, they are strangely isolated families
of Rajputs. The country for the most part belongs to the
Bhuiya sub-proprietors. They are a privileged class, holding
as hereditaments the principal offices of the State, and are
organised as a body of militia. The chiefs have no right to
exercise any authority till they have received the tilak or

tion of the
tribe

II DISTRfllUriON OF THE TRIliE 307

token of invcstituic from their powerful Bhuiya vassals.
Their position altogether renders their claim to be con-
sidered Rajputs extremely doublful, and the stcjries told to
account for their acquisition of the dignity are palpable
fables. They were no doubt all Bhuiyas originally ; they
certainly do not look like Rajputs." Members of the tribe
are the household servants of the Bamra Raja's family, and
it is said that the first Raja of Bamra was a child of the
Patna house, who was stolen from his home and anointed
king of Bamra by the Bhuiyas and Khonds. Similarly
Colonel Dalton records the legend that the Bhuiyas twenty-
seven generations ago stole a child of the Moharbhanj Raja's
famil)', brought it up amongst them and made it their Raja.
He was freely admitted to intercourse with Bhuiya girls, and
the children of this intimacy are the progenitors of the
Rajkuli branch of the tribe. But they are not considered
first among Bhuiyas because they are not of pure Bhuiya
descent. Again the Raja of Keonjhar is always installed
by the Bhuiyas. These facts indicate that the Bhuiyas were
once the rulers of Chota Nagpur and are recognised as the
oldest inhabitants of the country. From this centre they
have spread north through Lohardaga and Hazaribagh and
into southern Bihar, where large numbers of Bhuiyas are
encountered on whom the opprobrious designation of Musahar
or 'rat-eater' has been conferred by their Hindu neighbours.
Others of the tribe who travelled south from Chota Nagpur
experienced more favourable conditions, and here the
tendency has been for the Bhuiyas to rise rather than to
decline in social status. " Some of their leading families,"
Sir H. Risley states, " have come to be chiefs of the petty
States of Orissa, and have now sunk the Bhuiya in the
Khandait or swordsman, a caste of admitted respectability
in Orissa and likely in course of time to transform itself into
some variety of Rajput."

The ^varying status of the Bhuiyas in Bihar, Chota 3. Example
Nagpur and Orissa is a good instance of the different ways ^q^Ij^qj^ of
in which the primitive tribes have fared in contact with the the abori-
immigrant Aryans. Where the country has been completely fi^ndu"
colonised and populated by Hindus, as in Bihar, the aboriginal society,
residents have commonly become transformed into village

3o8 BHUIYA part

drudges, relegated to the meanest occupations, and despised
as impure by the Hindu cultivators, like the Chamars of
northern India and the Mahars of the Maratha Districts.
Where the Hindu immigration has only been partial and
the forests have not been cleared, as in Chota Nagpur and
the Central Provinces, they may keep their old villages
and tribal organisation and be admitted as a body into the
hierarchy of caste, ranking above the impure castes but
below the Hindu cultivators. This is the position of the
Gonds, Baigas and other tribes in these tracts. While, if
the Hindus come only as colonists and not as rulers, the
indigenous residents may retain the overlordship of the soil
and the landed proprietors among them may be formed into
a caste ranking with the good cultivating castes of the
Aryans. Instances of such are the Khandaits of Orissa,
the Binjhwars of Chhattlsgarh and the Bhilalas of Nimar
and Indore.
4. The The Bhuiyas have now entirely forgotten their own

Bhuiyas a lancruage and speak Hindi, Uriya and Bengali, according as

Kolanan fc> & r > ^ t-? 1 • 1 1

tribe. each is the dommant vernacular of their Hmdu neighbours.

They cannot therefore on the evidence of language be
classified as a Munda or Kolarian or as a Dravidian tribe.
Colonel Dalton was inclined to consider them as Dravidian : ^
" Mr. Stirling in his account of Orissa classes them among
the Kols ; but there are no grounds that I know of for so
connecting them. As I have said above, they appear to me
to be linked with the Dravidian rather than with the
Kolarian tribes." His account, however, does not appear to
contain any further evidence in support of this view ; and,
on the other hand, he identifies the Bhuiyas with the Savars
or Saonrs. Speaking of the Bendkars or Savars of
Keonjhar, he says : " It is difficult to regard them otherwise
than as members of the great Bhuiya family, and thus
connecting them we link the Bhuiyas and Savaras and give
support to the conjecture that the former are Dravidian."
But it is now shown in the Linguistic Survey that the
Savars have a Munda dialect. In Chota Nagpur this has
been forgotten, and the tribe speak Hindi or Uriya like the
Bhuiyas, but it remains in the hilly tracts of Ganjam and

1 Ethnology of Bengal, p. 140.

II THE BHUIYAS A KG LA R /AN TRIBE 309

Vizagapatam.' Savara is closely related to Kharia and
Juang, the dialects of two of the most primitive Munda
tribes. The Savars must therefore be classed as a Munda
or Kolarian tribe, and since Colonel Dalton identified the
Bhuiyas with the Savars of Chota Nagpur, his evidence
appears really to be in favour of the Kolarian origin of the
Bhuiyas. He notes further that the ceremony of naming
children among the Bhuiyas is identical with that of the
Mundas and Hos." Mr. Mazumdar writes : " Judging
from the external appearance and general physical type one
would be sure to mistake a Bhuiya for a Munda. Their
habits and customs are essentially Mundari. The Bhuiyas
who live in and around the District of Manbhum are not
much ashamed to admit that they are Kol people ; and
Bhumia Kol is the name that has been given them there
by the Hindus. The Mundas and Larka-Kols of Chota
Nagpur tell us that they first established themselves there
by driving out the Bhuiyas ; and it seems likely that the
Bhuiyas formed the first batch of the Munda immigrants in
Chota Nagpur and became greatly Hinduised there, and on
that account were not recognised by the Mundas as people
of their kin." If the tradition of the Mundas and Kols that
they came to Chota Nagpur after the Bhuiyas be accepted,
and tradition on the point of priority of immigration is
often trustworthy, then it follows that the Bhuiyas must be
a Munda tribe. For the main distinction other than that of
language between the Munda and Dravidian tribes is that
the former were the earlier and the latter subsequent
immigrants. The claim of the Bhuiyas to be the earliest
residents of Chota Nagpur is supported by the fact that
they officiate as priests in certain temples. Because in
primitive religion the jurisdiction of the gods is entirely
local, and foreigners bringing their own gods with them are
ignorant of the character and qualities of the local deities,
with which the indigenous residents are, on the other hand,
well acquainted. Hence the tendency of later comers to
employ these latter in the capacity of priests of the godlings
of the earth, corn, forests and hills. Colonel Dalton writes : ^

1 Linguistic Survey, vol. xiv. Mtnida and Dravidian Languages, p. 217.
2 Page 142. 3 Ibidem, p. 141.

3 TO BHUIYA PART

" It is strange that these Hinduised Bhuiyas retain in
their own hands the priestly duties of certain old shrines to
the exclusion of Brahmans. This custom has no doubt
descended in Bhuiya families from the time when Brahmans
were not, or had obtained no footing amongst them, and
when the religion of the land and the temples were not
Hindu ; they are now indeed dedicated to Hindu deities,
but there are evidences of the temples having been originally
occupied by other images. At some of these shrines human
sacrifices were offered every third year and this continued
till the country came under British rule." And again of
the Pauri Bhuiyas of Keonjhar : " The Pauris dispute with
the Juangs the claim to be the first settlers in Keonjhar,
and boldly aver that the country belongs to them. They
assert that the Raja is of their creation and that the prero-
gative of installing every new Raja on his accession is theirs,
and theirs alone. The Hindu population of Keonjhar is in
excess of the Bhuiya and it comprises Gonds and Kols, but
the claim of the Pauris to the dominion they arrogate is
admitted by all ; even Brahmans and Rajputs respectfully
acknowledge it, and the former by the addition of Brah-
manical rites to the wild ceremonies of the Bhuiyas affirm
and sanctify their installation." In view of this evidence it
seems a probable hypothesis that the Bhuiyas are the
earliest residents of these parts of Chota Nagpur and that
they are a Kolarian tribe.

There appears to be considerable reason for supposing
that the Baiga tribe of the Central Provinces are really a
branch of the Bhuiyas. Though the Baigas are now
mainly returned from Mandla and Balaghat, it seems likely
that these Districts were not their original home, and that
they emigrated from Chhattlsgarh into the Satpura hills on
the western borders of the plain. The hill country of
Mandla and the Maikal range of Balaghat form one of the
wildest and most inhospitable tracts in the Province, and it
is unlikely that the Baigas would have made their first
settlements here and spread thence into the fertile plain of
Chhattlsgarh. Migration in the opposite direction would be
more natural and probable. But it is fairly certain that the
Baiga tribe were among the earliest if not the earliest

II THE HA/GAS AND THE liHUIYAS 3U

residents of the ChhattTsii^arh plain and the hills north and
east of it. The IMiaina, Bhunjia and Binjhwar tribes who
still reside in this country can all be recognised as offshoots
of the Raigas. In the article on Bhaina it is shown that
some of the oldest forts in Bilaspur are attributed to the
Bhainas and a chief of this tribe is remembered as having
ruled in Bilaigarh south of the Mahfinadi, They arc said
to have been dominant in Pendra where they arc still most
numerous, and to have been expelled from Phuljhar in
Raipur by the Gonds. The Binjhwars or Binjhals again
are an aristocratic subdivision of the Baigas, belonging to
the hills east of Chhattlsgarh and the Uriya plain country of
Sambalpur beyond them. The zamlndfirs of Bodasamar,
Rampur, Bhatgaon and other estates to the south and east
of the Chhattlsgarh plain are members of this tribe. Both
the Bhainas and Binjhwars are frequently employed as
priests of the village deities all over this area, and may
therefore be considered as older residents than the Gond
and Kawar tribes and the Hindus. Sir G. Grierson also
states that the language of the Baigas of Mandla and
Balaghat is a form of Chhattisgarhi, and this is fairly con-
clusive evidence of their first having belonged to Chhat-
tlsgarh.^ It seems not unlikely that the Baigas retreated
into the hills round Chhattlsgarh after the Hindu invasion
and establishment of the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratan-
pur, which is now assigned to the ninth century of the
Christian era ; just as the Gonds retired from the Nerbudda
valley and the Nagpur plain before the Hindus several
centuries later. Sir H. Risley states that the Binjhias or
Binjhwars of Chota Nagpur say that their ancestors came
from Ratanpur twenty generations ago."

But the Chhattlsgarh plain and the hills north and east 6. The
of it are adjacent to and belong to the same tract of country branch ^
as the Chota Nagpur States, which are the home of the of the
Bhuiyas, Sir H. Risley gives Baiga as a name for a "'^^^'
sorcerer, and as a synonym or title of the Khairwar tribe in
Chota Nagpur, possibly having reference to the idea that

1 In the article on Binjhwar, it was But the evidence adduced ahove appears
supposed that the Baigas migrated east to show that this view is incorrect,
from the Satpura hills into Chhattlsgarh. '-' Tribes and Castes, zx\.. Binjhia.

312 BHUIYA PART

they, being among the original inhabitants of the country,
are best qualified to play the part of sorcerer and propitiate
the local gods. It has been suggested in the article on
Khairvvar that that tribe are a mongrel offshoot of the
Santals and Cheros, but the point to be noticed here is the
use of the term Baiga in Chota Nagpur for a sorcerer ; and
a sorcerer may be taken as practically equivalent for a
priest of the indigenous deities, all tribes who act in this
capacity being considered as sorcerers by the Hindus. If
the Bhuiyas of Chota Nagpur had the title of Baiga, it is
possible that it may have been substituted for the proper
tribal name on their migration to the Central Provinces.
Mr. Crooke distinguishes two tribes in Mirzapur whom he
calls the Bhuiyas and Bhuiyars. The Bhuiyas of Mirzapur
seem to be clearly a branch of the Bhuiya tribe of Chota
Nagpur, with whom their section -names establish their
identity.^ Mr. Crooke states that the Bhuiyas are dis-
tinguished with very great difficulty from the Bhuiyars with
whom they are doubtless very closely connected.^ Of the
Bhuiyars ^ he writes that the tribe is also known as Baiga,
because large numbers of the aboriginal local priests are
derived from this caste. He also states that " Most Bhuiyars
are Baigas and officiate in their own as well as allied tribes ;
in fact, as already stated, one general name for the tribe is
Baiga." ^ It seems not unlikely that these Bhuiyars are the
Baigas of the Central Provinces and that they went to
Mirzapur from here with the Gonds. Their original name
may have been preserved or revived there, while it has
dropped out of use in this Province. The name Baiga in
the Central Provinces is sometimes applied to members of
other tribes who serve as village priests, and, as has already
been seen, it is used in the same sense in Chota Nagpur.
The Baigas of Mandla are also known as Bhumia, which is
only a variant of Bhuiya, having the same meaning of lord
of the soil or belonging to the soil. Both Bhuiya and
Bhumia are in fact nearly equivalent to our word
' aboriginal,' and both are names given to the tribe by the

^ Crooke, l^ribes and Castes, art. ' Ibidem, ail. Bhuiyar, para. i.

Bhuiya, para. 4.

- Ibidem, para. 3. < Ibid£in, para. 16.

II THE BAIGAS A BRANCH OF THK BHUIYAS 313

Hindus and not originally tiiat by which its members called
themselves. It would be quite natural that a branch of the
Bhuiyas, who settled in the Central Provinces and were
commonly employed as village priests by the Hindus and
Gonds should have adopted the name of the office, Baiga,
as their tribal designation ; just as the title of Munda or
village headman has become the name of one branch of the
Kol tribe, and Bhumij, another term equivalent to Bhuiya,
of a second branch. Mr. A. F. Hewitt, Settlement Officer
of Raipur, considered that the Buniyas of that District were
the same tribe as the Bhuiyas of the Garhjiit States.^ By
Buniya he must apparently have meant the Bhunjia tribe of
Raipur, who as already stated are an offshoot of the Baigas.
Colonel Dalton describes the dances of the Bhuiyas of Chota
Nagpur as follows : ^ " The men have each a wide kind of
tambourine. They march round in a circle, beating these
and singing a ver}^ simple melody in a minor key on four
notes. The women dance opposite to them with their heads
covered and bodies much inclined, touching each other like
soldiers in line, but not holding hands or wreathing arms like
the Kols." This account applies very closely to the Sela
and Rina dances of the Baigas. The Sela dance is danced
by men only w^io similarly march round in a circle, though
they do not carry tambourines in the Central Provinces.
Here, however, they sometimes carry sticks and march round
in opposite directions, passing in and out and hitting their
sticks against each other as they meet, the movement being
exactly like the grand chain in the Lancers. Similarly the
Baiga women dance the Rina dance by themselves, standing
close to each other and bending forward, but not holding
each other by the hands and arms, just as described by
Colonel Dalton. The Gonds now also have the Sela and
Rina dances, but admit that they are derived from the
Baigas. Another point of some importance is that the
Bhuiyas of Chota Nagpur and the Baigas and the tribes
derived from them in the Central Provinces have all com-
pletely abandoned their own language and speak a broken
form of that of their Hindu neighbours. As has been seen,
too, the Bhuiyas are commonly employed as priests in Chota

' Dalton, p. 147. - Page 142.

BHUIYA

7. Tribal

sub-

di\isions.

Xagpur, and there seems therefore to be a strong case for
the original identity of the two tribes.^ Both the Baigas
and Bhuiyas, however, have now become greatly mixed with
the surrounding tribes, the Baigas of Mandla and Balaghat
having a strong Gond element.

In Singhbhum the Bhuiyas call themselves Pdivan-bans
or ' The Children of the Wind,' and in connection with
Hanuman's title of Pdivan-ka-pTit or ' The Son of the Wind,'
are held to be the veritable apes of the Ramayana who, under
the leadership of Hanuman, the monkey-god, assisted the
Aryan hero Rama on his expedition to Ceylon. This may
be compared with the name given to the Gonds of the
Central Provinces of Rawanbansi, or descendants of Rawan,
the idea being that their ancestors were the subjects of
Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, who was conquered by
Rama. " All Bhuiyas," Sir H. Risley states, " affect great
reverence for the memory of Rikhmun or Rikhiasan, whom
they regard, some as a patron deity, others as a mythical
ancestor, whose name distinguishes one of the divisions of
the tribe. It seems probable that in the earliest stage of
belief Rikhmun v\-as the bear-totem of a sept of the tribe,
that later on he was transformed into an ancestral hero, and
finally promoted to the rank of a tribal god." The Rikhiasan
Mahatwar subtribe of the Bhuiyas in the Central Provinces
are named after this hero Rikhmun ; the designation of
Mahatwar signifies that they are the Mahtos or leaders of
the Bhuiyas. The Khandaits or Paiks are another subcaste
formed from those who became soldiers ; in Orissa they are
now, as already stated, a separate caste of fairly high rank.
The Parja or ' subject people ' are the ordinary Bhuiyas,
probably those living in Hindu tracts. The Dhur or ' dust '
Gonds, and the Parja Gonds of Bastar may be noted as a
parallel in nomenclature. The Rautadi are a territorial
group, taking their name from a place called Raotal. The
Khandaits practise hypergamy with the Rautadi, taking
daughters from them, but not giving their daughters to them.
The Pabudia or Madhai are the hill Bhuiyas, and are the

1 The question of the relation of the
Baiga tribe to Mr. Crooke's Bhuiyars
was first raised by Mr. E. A. H. Blunt,

Census Superintendent, United Pro-

II TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 315

most wild and backward portion of the tribe. Dalton writes
of them in Keonjhar : " They arc not bound to fi;4ht for
the Raja, though they occasionally take up arms against
him. Their duty is to attend on him and carry his loads
when he travels about, and so long as they are satisfied with
his person and his rule, no more willing or devoted subjects
could be found. They arc then in Keonjhar, as in Bonai, a
race whom you cannot help liking and taking an interest in
from the primitive simplicity of their customs, their amena-
bility and their anxiety to oblige ; but unsophisticated as
they are they wield an extraordinary power in Keonjhar,
and when they take it into their heads to use that power,
the country may be said to be governed by an oligarchy
composed of the sixty chiefs of the Pawri Desh, the Bhuiya
Highlands. A knotted string passed from village to village
in the name of the sixty chiefs throws the entire country into
commotion, and the order verbally communicated in connec-
tion with it is as implicitly obeyed as if it emanated from
the most potent despot." This knotted string is known as
GnntJii. The Pabudias say that their ancestors were twelve
brothers belonging to Keonjhar, of whom eight went to an
unknown country, while the remaining four divided among
themselves all the territory of which they had knowledge,
this being comprised in the four existing states of Keonjhar,
Bamra, Palahara and Bonai. Any Pabudia who takes up his
residence permanently beyond the boundaries of these four
states is considered to lose his caste, like Hindus in former
times who went to dwell in the foreign country beyond the
Indus.^ But if the wandering Pabudia returns in two years,
and proves that he has not drunk water from any other caste,
he is taken back into the fold. Other subdivisions are the
Kati or Khatti and the Bathudia, these last being an inferior
group who are said to be looked down on because they have
taken food from other low castes. No doubt they are really
the offspring of irregular unions.

In Raigarh the Bhuiyas appear to have no exogamous s. Exo-
divisions. When they wish to arrange a marriage they ^^^^
compare the family gods of the parties, and if these are not
identical and there is no recollection of a common ancestor

1 Mr. Mazunidar's monograph.

3i6 BHUIYA PART

for three generations, the union is permitted. In Sambalpur,
however, Mr. Mazumdar states, all Bhuiyas are divided into
the following twelve septs : Thakur, or the clan of royal
blood ; Saont, from sdmanta, a viceroy ; Padhan, a village
headman ; Naik, a military leader ; Kalo, a wizard or priest ;
Dehri, also a priest ; Chatria, one who carried the royal
umbrella ; Sahu, a moneylender ; Majhi, a headman ; Behra,
manager of the household ; Amata, counsellor ; and Dand-
sena, a police official. The Dehrin sept still worship the
village gods on behalf of the tribe.

Marriage is adult, but the more civilised Bhuiyas are
gradually adopting Hindu usages, and parents arrange
matches for their children while they are still young.
Among the Pabudias some primitive customs survive. They
have the same system as the Oraons, by which all the
bachelors of the village sleep in one large dormitory ; this is
known as Dhangarbasa, dhdngar meaning a farmservant or
young man, or Mandarghar, the house of the drums, because
these instruments are kept in it. " Some villages," Colonel
Dalton states, " have a Dhangaria basa, or house for maidens,
which, strange to say, they are allowed to occupy without any
one to look after them. They appear to have very great
liberty, and slips of morality, so long as they are confined to
the tribe, are not much heeded." This intimacy between
boys and girls of the same village does not, however,
commonly end in marriage, for which a partner should be
sought from another village. For this purpose the girls go
in a body, taking with them some ground rice decorated
with flowers. They lay this before the elders of the village
they have entered, saying, ' Keep this or throw it into the
water, as you prefer.' The old men pick up the flowers,
placing them behind their ears. In the evening all the boys
of the village come and dance with the girls, with intervals
for courtship, half the total number of couples dancing and
sitting out alternately. This goes on all night, and in the
morning any couples who have come to an understanding
run away together for a day or two. The boy's father niust
present a rupee and a piece of cloth to the girl's mother, and
the marriage is considered to be completed.

Among the Pabudia or Madhai Bhuiyas the bride-price

II RKLIGION 317

consists of two bullocks or cows, one of which is given to the
girl's father and the other to her brother. The boy's father
makes the proposal for marriage, and the consent of the girl
is necessary. At the wedding turmeric and rice are offered
to the sun ; some rice is then placed on the girl's head and
turmeric rubbed on her body, and a brass ring is placed on
her finger. The bridegroom's father says to him, " This girl
is ours now : if in future she becomes one-eyed, lame or deaf,
she will still be ours." The ceremony concludes with the
usual feast and drinking bout. If the boy's father cannot
afford the bride-price the couple sometimes run away from
home for two or three days, when^ their parents go in search
of them and they are brought back and married in the boy's
house.

A widow is often taken by the younger brother of the 10. Widow-
deceased husband, though no compulsion is exerted over ^rid"^^^
her. But the match is common because the Bhuiyas have divorce,
the survival of fraternal polyandry, which consists in allow-
ing unmarried younger brothers to have access to an elder
brother's wife during his lifetime.^ Divorce is allowed for
misconduct on the part of the wife or mutual disagreement.

The Bhuiyas commonly take as their principal deity the n. Reii-
spirit of the nearest mountain overlooking their village, and S'°"'
make offerings to it of butter, rice and fowls. In April they
present the first-fruits of the mango harvest. They venerate
the sun as Dharam Deota, but no offerings are made to
him. Nearly all Bhuiyas worship the cobra, and some of
them call it their mother and think they are descended
from it. They will not touch or kill a cobra, and do not
swear by it. In Rairakhol they venerate a goddess, Rambha
Devi, who may be a corn-goddess, as the practice of burning
down successive patches of jungle and sowing seed on each
for two or three years is here known as rambha. They
think that the sun and moon are sentient beings, and that
fire and lightning are the children of the sun, and the stars
the children of the moon. One day the moon invited the
sun to dinner and gave him very nice food, so that the sun
asked what it was. The moon said she had cooked her
own children, and on this the sun went home and cooked all

^ From Mr. Mazumdar's monograph.

3i8 BHUIYA PART

his children and ate them, and this is the reason why there
are no stars during the day. But his eldest son, fire, went
and hid in a rengal tree, and his daughter, the lightning,
darted hither and thither so that the sun could not catch
her. And when night came again, and the stars came out,
the sun saw how the moon had deceived him and cursed
her, saying that she should die for fifteen days in every
month. And this is the reason for the waxing and waning
of the moon. Ever since this event fire has remained hidden
in a rengal tree, and when the Bhuiyas want him they rub
two pieces of its wood together and he comes out. This is
the Bhuiya explanation of the production of fire from the
friction of wood.

In the month of Kartik (October), or the next month,
they bring from the forest a branch of the karin tree and
venerate it and perform the karma dance in front of it.
They think that this worship and dance will cause the
karma tree, the mango, the jack-fruit and the mahua to
bear a full crop of fruit. Monday, Wednesday and Friday
are considered the proper days for worshipping the deities,
and children are often named on a Friday.

The dead are either buried or burnt, the corpse being
placed always with the feet pointing to its native village.
On the tenth day the soul of the dead person is called back
to the house. But if a man is killed by a tiger or by falling
from a tree no mourning is observed for him, and his soul is
not brought back. To perish from snake-bite is considered
a natural death, and in such cases the usual obsequies are
awarded. This is probably because they revere the cobra
as their first mother. The Pabudia Bhuiyas throw four to
eight annas' worth of copper on to the pyre or into the grave,
and if the deceased had a cow some ghi or melted butter.
No division of property can take place during the lifetime of
either parent, but when both have died the children divide
the inheritance, the eldest son taking two shares and the
others one equal share each.
14. Physi- Colonel Dalton describes the Bhuiyas as, " A dark-

cai appear- bfown, well -proportioned race, with black, straight hair,

ance and > 1 x o

occupation, plentiful on the head, but scant on the face, of middle height,
figures well knit and capable of enduring great fatigue, but

ri lUWIJA 319

li^ht-fnimcd likt> the lUiulu rather tliaii i)re.seiitiiii^ the usual
muscuhir development of the hillman." Their dress is
scanty, and in the Tributary States Dalton says that the
men and women all wear dresses of brown cotton cloth.
This may be because white is a very conspicuous colour in
the forests. They wear ornaments and beads, and are dis-
tinctive in that neither men nor women practise tattooini^,
though in some localities this rule is not observed by the
women. To keep themselves warm at night they kindle
two fires and sleep between them, and this custom has given
rise to the saying, ' Wherever you see a Bhuiya he always
has a fire.' In Bamra the Bhuiyas still practise shifting
cultivation, for which they burn the forest growth from the
hillsides and sow oilseeds in the fresh soil. This method
of agriculture is called locally Khasrathumi. They obtain
their lands free from the Raja in return for acting as luggage
porters and coolies. In Bamra they will not serve as farm-
servants or labourers for hire, but elsewhere they are more
docile.

A woman divorced for adultery is not again admitted '^S- Social

TT 11 1 • -11 customs.

to caste mtercourse. Her parents take her to their village,
where she has to live in a separate hut and earn her own
livelihood. If any Bhuiya steals from a Kol, Ganda or
Ghasia he is permanently put out of caste, while for killing
a cow the period of expulsion is twelve years. The emblem
of the Bhuiyas is a sword, in reference to their employment
as soldiers, and this they affix to documents in place of their
signature,

Bhulia,^ Bholia, Bhoriya, Bholwa, Mihir, Mehar. — A

caste of weavers in the Uriya country. In 1901 the
Bhulias numbered 26,000 persons, but with the transfer of
Sambalpur and the Uriya States to Bengal this figure has
been reduced to 5000. A curious fact about the caste is
that though solely domiciled in the Uriya territories, many
families belonging to it talk Hindi in their own houses.
According to one of their traditions they immigrated to
this part of the country with the first Chauhan Raja of
Patna, and it may be that they are members of some

^ This article is compiled from a paper taken by Mr. Hira Lai at Sonpur.

320 BHULIA PART

northern caste who have forgotten their origin and taken
to a fresh calling in the land of their adoption. The
Koshtas of Chhattisgarh have a subcaste called Bhoriya,
and possibly the Bhulias have some connection with these.
The caste sometimes call themselves Devang, and Devang
or Devangan is the name of another subcaste of Koshtis.
Various local derivations of the name are current, generally
connecting it with bhiilna, to forget. The Bhulias occupy
a higher rank than the ordinary weavers, corresponding
with that of the Koshtis elsewhere, and this is to some
extent considered to be an unwarranted pretension. Thus
one saying has it : " Formerly a son was born from a
Chandal woman ; at that time none were aware of his
descent or rank, and so he was called Bhulia (one who is
forgotten). He took the loom in his hands and became
the brother-in-law of the Ganda." The object here is
obviously to relegate the Bhulia to the same impure status
as the Ganda. Again the Bhulias affect the honorific title
of Meher, and another saying addresses them thus : " Why
do you call yourself Meher ? You make a hole in the
ground and put your legs into it and are like a cow with
foot-and-mouth disease struggling in the mud." The
allusion here is to the habit of the weaver of hollowing out
a hole for his feet as he sits before the loom, while cattle
with foot-and-mouth disease are made to stand in mud to
cool and cleanse the feet.

The caste have no subcastes, except that in Kalahandi
a degraded section is recognised who are called Sanpara
Bhulias, and with whom the others refuse to intermarry.
These are, there is little reason to doubt, the progeny of
illicit unions. They say that they have two gotras, Nagas
from the cobra and Kachhap from the tortoise. But these
have only been adopted for the sake of respectability, and
exercise no influence on marriage, which is regulated by a
number of exogamous groups called vansa. The names
of the vansas are usually either derived from villages or
are titles or nicknames. Two of them, Bagh (tiger) and
Kimir (crocodile), are totemistic, while two more, Kumhar
(potter) and Dhuba (washerman), are the names of other
castes. Examples of titular names are Bankra (crooked).

II niruijA 321

Ranjujha (warrior), Kodjit (one who has conquered a score
of people) and others. The territorial names arc derived
from those of villages where the caste reside at present.
Marriage within the vansa is forbidden, but some of the
vansas have been divided into bad and san, or great and
small, and members of these may marry with each other,
the subdivision having been adopted when the original
group became so large as to include persons who were
practically not relations. The binding portion of the
wedding ceremony is that the bridegroom should carry the
bride in a basket seven times round the honi or sacrificial
fire. If he cannot do this, the girl's grandfather carries
them both. After the ceremony the pair return to the
bridegroom's village, and are made to sleep on the same
bed, some elder woman of the family lying between them.
After a few days the girl goes back to her parents and does
not rejoin her husband until she attains maturity. The
remarriage of widows is permitted, and in Native States is
not less costly to the bridegroom than the regular ceremony.
In Sonpur the suitor must proceed to the Raja and pay
him twenty rupees for his permission, which is given in the
shape of a present of rice and nuts. Similar sums are paid
to the caste -fellows and the parents of the girl, and the
Raja's rice and nuts are then placed on the heads of the
couple, who become man and wife. Divorce may be effected
at the instance of the husband or the wife's parents on the
mere ground of incompatibility of temper. The position of
the caste corresponds to that of the Koshtas ; that is, they
rank below the good cultivating castes, but above the menial
and servile classes. They eat fowls and the flesh of wild
pig, and drink liquor. A liaison with one of the impure
castes is the only offence entailing permanent expulsion
from social intercourse. A curious rule is that in the case
of a woman going wrong with a man of the caste, the man
only is temporarily outcasted and forced to pay a fine
on read mission, while the woman escapes without penalty.
They employ Brahmans for ceremonial purposes. They
are considered proverbially stupid, like the Koris in the
northern Districts, but very laborious. One saying about
them is : " The Kewat catches fish but himself eats crabs,
VOL. II Y

322 BHUNJIA PART

and the BhuHa weaves loin-cloths but himself wears only
a rag " ; and another : " A BhuHa who is idle is as useless
as a confectioner's son who eats sweetmeats, or a money-
lender's son with a generous disposition, or a cultivator's son
who is extravagant."

I. Origin Bhuiljia.^ — A small Dravidian tribe residing in the

traditions. Bindranawagarh and Khariar zamindaris of the Raipur
District, and numbering about 7000 persons. The tribe
was not returned outside this area in 191 1, but Sherring
mentions them in a list of the hill tribes of the Jaipur
zamlndari of Vizagapatam, which touches the extreme south
of Bindranawagarh. The Bhunjias are divided into two
branches, Chaukhutia and Chinda, and the former have the
following legend of their origin. On one occasion a Bhatra
Gond named Bachar cast a net into the Pairi river and
brought out a stone. He threw the stone back into the river
and cast his net again, but a second and yet a third time the
stone came out. So he laid the stone on the bank of the
river and went back to his house, and that night he dreamt
that the stone was Bura Deo, the great God of the Gonds.
So he said : ' If this dream be true let me draw in a deer in
my net to-morrow for a sign ' ; and the next day the body
of a deer appeared in his net. The stone then called upon
the Gond to worship him as Bura Deo, but the Gond
demurred to doing so himself, and said he would provide a
substitute as a devotee. To this Bura Deo agreed, but said
that Bachar, the Gond, must marry his daughter to the
substituted worshipper. The Gond then set out to search
for somebody, and in the village of Lafandi he found a Halba
of the name of Konda, who was a cripple, deaf and dumb,
blind, and a leper. He brought Konda to the stone, and on
reaching it he was miraculously cured of all his ailments
and gladly began to worship Bura Deo. He afterwards
married the Gond's daughter and they had a son called
Chaukhutia Bhunjia, who was the ancestor of the Chaukhutia
division of the tribe. Now the term Chaukhutia in

^ This article is based on papers by Misra of the Gazetteer office, and
Mr. Hira Lai, Mr. Gokul Prasad, Munshi Ganpati Giri, Superintendent,
Tahsildar, Dhamtari, Mr. Pyare L^l Bindranawagarh estate.

II ORTGIN AND TKAP/TIONS 323

Chhattisc^arhi sit^nifics a bastard, and the story related above
is obviously intended to signify that the Chaukhutia J^hunjias
are of mixed descent from the Gonds and Halbas. It is
clearly with this end in view that the Gond is made to
decline to worship the stone himself and promise to find
a substitute, an incident which is wholly unnatural and is
simply dragged in to meet the case. The Chaukhutia sub-
tribe especially worship Bura Deo, and sing a song relating
to the finding of the stone in their marriage ceremony as
follows :

Johdr, johar Thdkur Dcota, Tiiniko Idgon,

Do 7natia ghar men dine tumhdre nam.

Johdr, johdr Konda, Tumko Idgon,

Do ntatia ghar men, etc.

Johdr, johdr Bdchar Jhdkar Tumko Idgoji, etc.

Johdr, johdr Bftdha Kdja Tumko Idgon, etc.

Johdr, johdr Lafandi Mdti Tumko Idgon, etc.

Johdr, johdr Anand Mdti Tumko Idgon, etc.

which may be rendered :

I make obeisance to thee, O Thakur Deo, I bow down to thee !

In thy name have I placed two pots in my house (as a mark of

respect).
I make obeisance to thee, O Konda Pujari, I bow down to thee !
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Bachar Jhakar !
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Biadha Raja !
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Soil of Lafandi !
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Happy Spot !
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.

The song refers to the incidents in the story. Thakur
Deo is the title given to the divine stone, Konda is the Halba
priest, and Bachar the Gond who cast the net. Budha Raja,
otherwise Singh Sei, is the Chief who was ruling in
Bindranawagarh at the time, Lafandi the village where Konda
Halba was found, and the Anand Mati or Happy Spot is
that where the stone was taken out of the river. The
majority of the sept-names returned are of Gond origin, and
there seems no doubt that the Chaukhutias are, as the story
says, of mixed descent from the Halbas and Goods. It is

324 BHUNJIA PART

noticeable, however, that the Bhunjias, though surrounded by
Gonds on all sides, do not speak Gondi but a dialect of Hindi,
which Sir G. Grierson considers to resemble that of the Halbas,
and also describes as " A form of Chhattlsgarhi which is
practically the same as Baigani. It is a jargon spoken by
Binjhwars, Bhumias and Bhunjias of Raipur, Raigarh,
Sarangarh and Patna in the Central Provinces." ^ The
Binjhwars also belong to the country of the Bhunjias, and
one or two estates close to Bindranawagarh are held by
members of this tribe. The Chinda division of the Bhunjias
have a saying about themselves: ' Chinda Raja, BJiunjia Pdik^ ;
and they say that there was originally a Kamar ruler of
Bindranawagarh who was dispossessed by Chinda. The
Kamars are a small and very primitive tribe of the same
locality. Pdik means a foot-soldier, and it seems therefore
that the Bhunjias formed the levies of this Chinda, who may
very probably have been one of themselves. The term
Bhunjia may perhaps signify one who lives on the soil, from
bhuni, the earth, and jia, dependent on. The word Birjia,
a synonym for Binjhwar, is similarly a corruption of bewar
jia, and means one who is dependent on dahia or patch
cultivation. Sir H. Risley gives Birjia, Binjhia and Binjhwar ^
as synonymous terms, and Bhunjia may be another corruption
of the same sort. The Binjhwars are a Hinduised offshoot
of the ancient Baiga tribe, who may probably have been in
possession of the hills bordering the Chhattlsgarh plain as
well as of the Satpura range before the advent of the Gonds,
as the term Baiga is employed for a village priest over a large
part of this area. It thus seems not improbable that the
Chinda Bhunjias may have been derived from the Binjhwars,
and this would account for the fact that the tribe speaks
a dialect of Hindi and not Gondi. As already seen, the
Chaukhutia subcaste appear to be of mixed origin from
the Gonds and Halbas, and as the Chindas are probably
descended from the Baigas, the Bhunjias may be considered
to be an offshoot from these three important tribes,
2. Sub- Of the two subtribes already mentioned the Chaukhutia

divisions.

' P'rom the Index of Languages and - Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art.

Dialects, furnished by Sir G. Grierson Binjhia.
for the census.

II MARRIAGE 325

are recognised to be of illegitimate descent. As a consequence
of this they strive to obtain increased social estimation by
a ridiculously strict observance of the rules of ceremonial
purity. If any man not of his own caste touches the hut
where a Chaukhutia cooks his food, it is entirely abandoned
and a fresh one built. At the time of the census they
threatened to kill the enumerator if he touched their huts
to affix the census number. Pegs had therefore to be
planted in the ground a little in front of the huts and marked
with their numbers. The Chaukhutia will not eat food
cooked by other members of his own community, and this
is a restriction found only among those of bastard descent,
where every man is suspicious of his neighbour's parentage.
He will not take food from the hands of his own daughter
after she is married ; as soon as the ceremony is over her
belongings are at once removed from the hut, and even the
floor beneath the seat of the bride and bridegroom during
the marriage ceremony is dug up and the surface earth
thrown away to avoid any risk of defilement. Only when it
is remembered that these rules are observed by people who
do not wash themselves from one week's end to the other,
and wear the same wisp of cloth about their loins until it
comes to pieces, can the full absurdity of such customs as the
above be appreciated. But the tendency appears to be of
the same kind as the intense desire for respectability so often
noticed among the lower classes in England. The Chindas,
whose pedigree is more reliable, are far less particular about
their social purity.

As already stated, the exogamous divisions of the 3- i^^ar-
Bhunjias are derived from those of the Gonds. Among '"^ '
the Chaukhutias it is considered a great sin if the signs of
puberty appear in a girl before she is married, and to avoid
this, if no husband has been found for her, they perform a
' Kand Byah ' or ' Arrow Marriage ' : the girl walks seven
times round an arrow fixed in the ground, and is given away
without ceremony to the man who by previous arrangement
has brought the arrow. If a girl of the Chinda group goes
wrong with an outsider before marriage and becomes
pregnant, the matter is hushed up, but if she is a Chaukhutia
it is said that she is finally expelled from the community,

326 BHUNJIA PART

the same severe course being adopted even when she is not
pregnant if there is reason to suppose that the offence has
been committed. A proposal for marriage among the
Chaukhutias is made on the boy's behalf by two men who
are known as Mahalia and Jangalia, and are supposed to
represent a Nai (barber) and Dhlmar (water-carrier), though
they do not actually belong to these castes. As among the
Gonds, the marriage takes place at the bridegroom's village,
and the Mahalia and Jangalia act as stewards of the cere-
mony, and are entrusted with the rice, pulse, salt, oil and
other provisions, the bridegroom's family having no function
in the matter except to pay for them. The provisions
are all stored in a separate hut, and when the time
for the feast has come they are distributed raw to all the
guests, each family of whom cook for themselves. The
reason for this is, as already explained, that each one
is afraid of losing status by eating with other members of
the tribe. The marriage is solemnised by walking round
the sacred post, and the ceremony is conducted by a
hereditary priest known as Dinwari, a member of the tribe,
whose line it is believed will never become extinct. Among
the Chinda Bhunjias the bride goes away with her husband,
and in a short time returns with him to her parents' house
for a few days, to make an offering to the deities. But the
Chaukhutias will not allow her, after she has lived in her
father-in-law's house, to return to her home. In future if
she goes to visit her parents she must stay outside the
house and cook her food separately. Widow-marriage and
divorce are permitted, but a husband will often overlook
transgressions on the part of his wife and only put her away
when her conduct has become an open scandal. In such
a case he will either quietly leave house and wife and settle
alone in another village, or have his wife informed by means
of a neighbour that if she does not leave the village he will
do so. It is not the custom to bring cases before the tribal
committee or to claim damages. A special tie exists
between a man and his sister's children. The marriage of
a brother's son or daughter to a sister's daughter or son
is considered the most suitable. A man will not allow his
sister's children .to eat the leavings of food on his plate,

II RELIGION—SOCIAL RULES 327

though his own children may do so. This is a special
token of respect to his sister's children. He will not chastise
his sister's children, even though they deserve it. And it
is considered especially meritorious for a man to pay for
the wedding ceremony of his sister's son or daughter.

Every third year in the month of Chait (March) the 4- Reii-
tribe offer a goat and a cocoanut to Mata, the deity of ^'
cholera and smallpox. They bow daily to the sun with
folded hands, and believe that he is of special assistance to
them in the liquidation of debt, which the Bhunjias consider
a primary obligation. When a debt has been paid off they
offer a cocoanut to the sun as a mark of gratitude for his
assistance. They also pay great reverence to the tortoise.
They call the tortoise the footstool (jpidha) of God, and
have adopted the Hindu theory that the earth is supported
by a tortoise swimming in the midst of the ocean. Professor
Tylor explains as follows how this belief arose : ^ " To
man in the lower levels of science the earth is a flat plain
over which the sky is placed like a dome as the arched
upper shell of the tortoise stands upon the flat plate below,
and this is why the tortoise is the symbol or representative
of the world," It is said that Bhunjia women are never
allowed to sit either on a footstool or a bed -cot, because
these are considered to be the seats of the deities. They
consider it disrespectful to walk across the shadow of any
elderly person, or to step over the body of any human being
or revered object on the ground. If they do this inadvert-
ently, they apologise to the person or thing. If a man falls
from a tree he will offer a chicken to the tree-spirit.

The tribe will eat pork, but abstain from beef and the s- Social
flesh of monkeys. Notwithstanding their strictness of social
observance, they rank lower than the Gonds, and only the
Kamars will accept food from their hands. A man who
has got maggots in a wound is purified by being given to
drink water, mixed with powdered turmeric, in which silver
and copper rings have been dipped. Women are secluded
during the menstrual period for as long as eight days, and
during this time they may not enter the dwelling-hut nor
touch any article belonging to it. The Bhunjias take their

^ Early History of J\Iaiiki)id, p. 341.

328 BHUNJIA PART II

food on plates of leaves, and often a whole family will have
only one brass vessel, which will be reserved for production
on the visit of a guest. But no strangers can be admitted
to the house, and a separate hut is kept in the village for
their use. Here they are given uncooked grain and pulse,
which they prepare for themselves. When the women go
out to work they do not leave their babies in the house, but
carry them tied up in a small rag under the arm. They
have no knowledge of medicine and are too timid to enter
a Government dispensary. Their panacea for most dis-
eases is branding the skin with a hot iron, which is employed
indifferently for headache, pains in the stomach and
rheumatism. Mr. Pyare Lai notes that one of his informants
had recently been branded for rheumatism on both knees
and said that he felt much relief.

BINJHWAR

list of paragraphs

1. Orlghi and tradition. 5. Sexual morality.

2. Tribal subdivisions. 6. Disposal of the dead.

3. Marriage. 7. Religiofi.

4. The marriage ceremojiy. 8. Festivals.

9. Social customs.

Binjhwar,Binjhal.^ — A comparatively civilised Dravidian i. Origin
tribe, or caste formed from a tribe, found in the Raipur and ^j'^jitjo^
Bilaspur Districts and the adjoining Uriya country. In
191 1 the Binjhwars numbered 60,000 persons in the
Central Provinces. There is little or no doubt that the
Binjhwars are an offshoot of the primitive Baiga tribe of
Mandla and Balaghat, who occupy the Satpura or Maikal
hills to the north of the Chhattlsgarh plain. In these
Districts a Binjhwar subdivision of the Baigas exists ; it is
the most civilised and occupies the highest rank in the
tribe. In Bhandara is found the Injhwar caste who are
boatmen and cultivators. This caste is derived from the
Binjhwar subdivision of the Baigas, and the name Injhwar is
simply a corruption of Binjhwar. Neither the Binjhwars
nor the Baigas are found except in the territories above
mentioned, and it seems clear that the Binjhwars are a
comparatively civilised section of the Baigas, who have
become a distinct caste. They are in fact the landholding
section of the Baigas, like the Raj-Gonds among the Gonds
and the Bhilalas among Bhils. The zamlndars of Bodasamar,
Rampur, Bhatgaon and other estates to the south and east
of the Chhattlsgarh plain belong to this tribe. But owing

1 This article is based on a paper by Mr. Mian Bhai Abdul Hussain, Extra
Assistant Commissioner, Sambalpur.

329

330 BINJHWAR part

to the change of name their connection with the parent
Baigas has now been forgotten. The name Binjhwar is
derived from the Vindhya hills, and the tribe still worship
the goddess Vindhyabasini of these hills as their tutelary
deity. They say that their ancestors migrated from Binjha-
kop to Lampa, which may be either Lamta in Balaghat or
Laphagarh in Bilaspur. The hills of Mandla, the home of
perhaps the most primitive Baigas, are quite close to the
Vindhya range. The tribe say that their original ancestors
were Bdrah bhai betkdr, or the twelve Brother Archers. '
They were the sons of the goddess Vindhyabasini. One day
they were out shooting and let off their arrows, which flew
to the door of the great temple at Puri and stuck in it.
Nobody in the place was able to pull them out, not even
when the king's elephants were brought and harnessed to
them ; till at length the brothers arrived and drew them
forth quite easily with their hands, and the king was so
pleased with their feat that he gave them the several
estates which their descendants now hold. The story
recalls that of Arthur and the magic sword. According to
another legend the mother of the first Raja of Patna, a
Chauhan Rajput, had fled from northern India to Sambalpur
after her husband and relations had been killed in battle.
She took refuge in a Binjhwar's hut and bore a son who
became Raja of Patna ; and in reward for the protection
afforded to his mother he gave the Binjhwar the Bodasamar
estate, requiring only of him and his descendants the tribute
of a silk cloth on accession to the zamindari ; and this has
been rendered ever since by the zamlndars of Bodasamar
to the Rajas of Patna as a mark of fealty. It is further
stated that the twelve archers when they fired the memor-
able arrows in the forest were in pursuit of a wild boar ;
and the landholding class of Binjhwars are called Bariha
from bdrdh, a boar. As is only fitting, the Binjhwars have
taken the arrow as their tribal symbol or mark ; their cattle
are branded with it, and illiterate Binjhwars sign it in place
of their name. If a husband cannot be found for a girl she
is sometimes married to an arrow. At a Binjhwar wedding
an arrow is laid on the trunk of mahua ^ which forms the

1 Bassia latifolia.

II TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 331

marriage-post, and honours are paid to it as representing the
bridegroom.

The tribe have four subdivisions, the Binjhwars proper, a. Tribal
the Sonjharas, the Birjhias and the Binjhias. The Sonjharas jl^j'sions
consist of those who took to washing for gold in the sands
of the Mahanadi, and it may be noted that a separate caste
of Sonjharas is also in existence in this locality besides the
Binjhwar group. The Birjhias are those who practised
bezvar or shifting cultivation in the forests, the name being
derived from beivarjia, one living by bewar-^o'wmg. Binjhia
is simply a diminutive form of Binjhwar, but in Bilaspur
it is sometimes regarded as a separate caste. The zamlndar
of Bhatgaon belongs to this group. The tribe have also
exogamous divisions, the names of which are of a diverse
character, and on being scrutinised show a mixture of
foreign blood. Among totemistic names are Bagh, a tiger ;
Pod, a buffalo ; Kamalia, the lotus flower ; Panknali, the water-
crow ; Tar, the date-palm ; Jal, a net, and others. Some of
the sections are nicknames, as Udhar, a debtor ; Marai Meli
Bagh, one who carried a dead tiger ; Ultum, a talker ; Jalia, a
liar ; Kessal, one who has shaved a man, and so on. Several
are the names of other castes, as Lobar, Dudh Kawaria,
Bhil, Banka and Majhi, indicating that members of these
castes have become Binjhwars and have founded families.
The sept names also differ in different localities ; the Birjhia
subtribe who live in the same country as the Mundas have
several Munda names among their septs, as Munna, Son,
Solai ; while the Binjhwars who are neighbours of the
Gonds have Gond sept names, as Tekam, Sonwani, and
others. This indicates that there has been a considerable
amount of intermarriage with the surrounding tribes, as is
the case generally among the lower classes of the population
in Chhattlsgarh. Even now if a woman of any caste from
whom the Binjhwars will take water to drink forms a con-
nection with a man of the tribe, though she herself must
remain in an irregular position, her children will be considered
as full members of it. The Barhias or landowning group
have now adopted names of Sanskrit formation, as Gajendra,
an elephant, Rameswar, the god Rama, and Nageshwar, the
cobra deity. Two of their septs are named Lobar (black-

332 BINJHWAR part

smith) and Kumhar (potter), and may be derived from
members of these castes who became Binjhvvars or from
Binjhwars who took up the occupations. At a Binjhwar
wedding the presence of a person belonging to each of the
Lobar and Kumhar septs is essential, the reason being probably
the estimation in which the two handicrafts were held when
the Binjhwars first learnt them from their Hindu neighbours.

3. Mar- In Sambalpur there appears to be no system of
riage. exogamous groups, and marriage is determined simply by

relationship. The union of agnates is avoided as long as
the connection can be traced between them, but on the
mother's side all except first cousins may marry. Marriage
is usually adult, and girls are sometimes allowed to choose
their own husbands. A bride-price of about eight kJiandis
(1400 lbs.) of unhusked rice is paid. The ceremony is
performed at the bridegroom's house, to which the bride
proceeds after bidding farewell to her family and friends in
a fit of weeping. Weddings are avoided during the four
months of the rainy season, and in Chait (March) because it
is inauspicious, Jeth (May) because it is too hot, and Pus
(December) because it is the last month of the year among
the Binjhwars. The marriage ceremony should begin on a
Sunday, when the guests are welcomed and their feet washed.
On Monday the formal reception of the bride takes place,
the Gandsan or scenting ceremony follows on Tuesday, and
on Wednesday is the actual wedding. At the scenting
ceremony seven married girls dressed in new clothes dyed
yellow with turmeric conduct the bridegroom round the
central post ; one holds a dish containing rice, mango leaves,
myrobalans and betel-nuts, and a second sprinkles water
from a small pot. At each round the bridegroom is made
to throw some of the condiments from the dish on to the
wedding-post, and after the seven rounds he is seated and is
rubbed with oil and turmeric.

4. The Among the Birjhias a trunk of mahua with two branches
marriage jg ercctcd in the marriacre-shed, and on this a dagger is

ceremony. ° _ '^^

placed in a winnowing-fan filled with rice, the former repre-
senting the bridegroom and the latter the bride. The bride
first goes round the post seven times alone, and then the
bridegroom, and after this they go round it together. A

II THE MAR Rf AGE CEREMONY 333

ploui^h is brou;^ht and they stand upon the yoke, and seven
cups of water havini^ been collected from seven different
houses, four arc poured over the brider,froom and three over
the bride. Some men climb on to the top of the shed and
pour pots of water down on to the couple. This is now
said to be done only as a joke. Next morninj^ two strong
men take the bridegroom and bride, who are usually grown
up, on their backs, and the parties pelt each other with
unhusked rice. Then the bridegroom holds the bride in his
arms from behind and they stand facing the sun, while some
old man ties round their feet a thread specially spun by a
virgin. The couple stand for some time and then fall to
the ground as if dazzled by his rays, when water is again
poured over their bodies to revive them. Lastly, an old
man takes the arrow from the top of the marriage-post and
draws three lines with it on the ground to represent the
Hindu trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, and the bridegroom
jumps over these holding the bride in his arms. The couple
go to bathe in a river or tank, and on the way home the
bridegroom shoots seven arrows at an image of a sambhar
deer made with straw. At the seventh shot the bride's
brother takes the arrow, and running away and hiding it in
his cloth lies down at the entrance of the bridegroom's
house. The couple go up to him, and the bridegroom
examines his body with suspicion, pretending to think that
he is dead. He draws the arrow out of his cloth and points
to some blood which has been previously sprinkled on the
ground. After a time the boy gets up and receives some
liquor as a reward. This procedure may perhaps be a
symbolic survival of marriage by capture, the bridegroom
killing the bride's brother before carrying her off, or more
probably, perhaps, the boy may represent a dead deer. In
some of the wilder tracts the man actually waylays and seizes
the girl before the wedding, the occasion being previously
determined, and the women of her family trying to prevent
him. If he succeeds in carrying her off they stay for three
or four days in the forest and then return and are married.

If a Binjhwar girl is seduced and rendered pregnant by 5. Sexual
a man of the tribe, the people exact a feast and compel '"°'"^i''y-
them to join their hands in an informal manner before the

334 BINJHWAR part

caste committee, the tie thus formed being considered as
indissoluble as a formal marriage. Polygamy is permitted ;
a Binjhvvar zamindar marries a new wife, who is known as
Pat Rani, to celebrate his accession to his estates, even
though he may have five or six already.

Divorce is recognised but is not very common, and a
married woman having an intrigue with another Binjhwar is
often simply made over to him and they live as husband
and wife. If this man does not wish to take her she can
live with any other, conjugal morality being very loose in
Sambalpur. In Bodasamar a fine of from one to ten rupees
is payable to the zamindar in the case of each divorce, and a
feast must also be given to the caste-fellows.

6. Disposal The tribe usually bury the dead, and on the third day
of the they place on the grave some uncooked rice and a lighted

lamp. As soon as an insect flies to the lamp they catch it,
and placing it in a cake of flour carry this to a stream,
where it is worshipped with an offering of coloured rice. It
is then thrust into the sand or mud in the bed of the stream
with a grass broom. This ceremony is called Kharpani or
' Grass and Water,' and appears to be a method of disposing
of the dead man's spirit. It is not performed at all for
young children, while, on the other hand, in the case of
respected elders a second ceremony is carried out of the
same nature, being known as Badapani or ' Great Water.'
On this occasion the jivn or soul is worshipped with greater
pomp. Except in the case of wicked souls, who are
supposed to become malignant ghosts, the Binjhwars do not
seem to have any definite belief in a future life. They say, ^ Je
maris te saris', or ' That which is dead is rotten and gone.'

7. Reii- The tribe worship the common village deities of Chhat-
gioti. tlsgarh, and extend their veneration to Bura Deo, the

principal god of the Gonds. They venerate their daggers,
spears and arrows on the day of Dasahra, and every third
year their tutelary goddess Vindhyabasini is carried in pro-
cession from village to village. Mr. Mian Bhai gives the
following list of precepts as forming the Binjhwar's moral
code : — Not to commit adultery outside the caste ; not to
eat beef ; not to murder ; not to steal ; not to swear falsely
before the caste committee. The tribe have gurus or

ir FESTIVALS—SOCIAL CUSTOMS 335

spiritual preceptors, whom he describes as the most itinerant
Bairagis, very Httle better than impostors. When a b(jy or
girl grows up the Bairagi comes and whispers the Karn
mnntra or spell in his ear, also hanging a necklace of iulsi
(basil) beads round his neck ; for this the guru receives a
cloth, a cocoanut and a cash payment of four annas to a
rupee. Thereafter he visits his disciples annually at harvest
time and receives a present of grain from them.

On the iith of Bhadon (August) the tribe celebrate 8. Festi-
the karma festival, which is something like May-Day or a ^^^'
harvest feast. The youths and maidens go to the forest
and bring home a young karma tree, singing, dancing and
beating drums. Offerings are made to the tree, and then
the whole village, young and old, drink and dance round it
all through the night. Next morning the tree is taken to
the nearest stream or tank and consigned to it. After this
the young girls of five or six villages make up a party and
go about to the different villages accompanied by drummers
and Ganda musicians. They are entertained for the night,
and next morning dance for five or six hours in the village
and then go on to another.

The tribe are indiscriminate in their diet, which includes 9. Social
pork, snakes, rats, and even carnivorous animals, as panthers. ^'^'^'°'^^-
They refuse only beef, monkeys and the leavings of others.
The wilder Binjhwars of the forests will not accept cooked
food from any other caste, but those who live in association
with Hindus will take it when cooked without water from a
few of the higher ones. The tribe are not considered as
impure. Their dress is very simple, consisting as a rule
only of one dirty white piece of cloth in the case of both
men and women. Their hair is unkempt, and they neither oil
nor comb it. A genuine Binjhwar of the hills wears long
frizzled hair with long beard and moustaches, but in the
open country they cut their hair and shave the chin. Every
Binjhwar woman is tattooed either before, or just after her
marriage, when she has attained to the age of adolescence.
A man will not touch or accept food from a woman who is
not tattooed on the feet. The expenses must be paid either
by the woman's parents or her brothers and not by her
husband. The practice is carried to an extreme, and many

336 BINJHWAR part ii

women have the upper part of the chest, the arms from
shoulder to wrist, and the feet and legs up to the knee
covered with devices. On the chest and arms the patterns
are in the shape of flowers and leaves, while along the leg a
succession of zigzag lines are pricked. The Binjhwars are
usually cultivators and labourers, while, as already stated,
several zamlndari and other estates are owned by members
of the tribe. Binjhwars also commonly hold the office of
Jhankar or priest of the village gods in the Sambalpur
District, as the Baigas do in Mandla and Balaghat. In
Sambalpur the Jhankar or village priest is a universal and
recognised village servant of fairly high status. His business
is to conduct the worship of the local deities of the soil,
crops, forests and hills, and he generally has a substantial
holding, rent free, containing some of the best land in the
village. It is said locally that the Jhankar is looked on as
the founder of the village, and the representative of the old
owners who were ousted by the Hindus. He worships on
their behalf the indigenous deities, with whom he naturally
possesses a more intimate acquaintance than the later immi-
grants ; while the gods of these latter cannot be relied on to
exercise a sufficient control over the works of nature in the
foreign land to which they have been imported, or to ensure
that the earth and the seasons will regularly perform their
necessary functions in producing sustenance for mankind.

BISHNOI

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1 . Origin of the sect. 5 . Nature of the sect.

2. Precepts of fhambdji. 6. Bishnois in the Cetttral Pro-

3. Customs of the Bishnois in the vijices.

Punjab. 7. Marriage.

4. Initiation and baptism. 8. Disposal of the dead.

9. Developnieftt into a caste.

Bishnoi.^ — A Hindu sect which has now developed into i. Origin
a caste. The sect was founded in the Punjab, and the "'^ ^^^'^ ^^'^'^
Bishnois are immigrants from northern India. In the
Central Provinces they numbered about iioo persons in
191 I, nearly all of whom belonged to the Hoshangabad
District. The best description of the sect is contained in
Mr. Wilson's Sij'sa Settlement Report (quoted in Sir E.
Maclagan's Census Report of the Punjab for 1 891), from
which the following details are taken : " The name Bishnoi
means a worshipper of Vishnu. The founder of the sect
was a Panwar Rajput named Jhambaji, who was born in
a village of Bikaner State in A.D. 145 i. His father had
hitherto remained childless, and being greatly oppressed by
this misfortune had been promised a son by a Muhammadan
Fakir. After nine months Jhambaji was born and showed
his miraculous origin in various ways, such as producing
sweets from nothing for the delectation of his companions.
Until he was thirty-four years old he spoke no word and
was employed in tending his father's cattle. At this time a
Brahman was sent for to get him to speak, and on confess-
ing his failure, Jhambaji showed his power by lighting a

^ This article is compiled from Mr. Castes, and from notes taken by Mr.
Wilson's account of the Bishnois as Aduram Chaudhri in the Hoshangabad
reproduced in Mr. Crooke's Tribes and District.

VOL. II 337 Z

338 BISHNOI part

lamp with a snap of his fingers and spoke his first word. He
adopted the Hfe of a teacher and went to reside on a sand-
hill some thirty miles south of Bikaner. In 1485 a fear-
ful famine desolated the country, and Jhambaji gained an
enormous number of disciples by providing food for all who
would declare their belief in him. He is said to have died
on his sandhill at the good old age of eighty-four, and to
have been buried at a spot about a mile distant from it. A
further account says that his body remained suspended for
six months in the bier without decomposing. His name
Jhambaji was a contraction of Achambha (The Wonder),
with the honorific suffix ji.
2. Precepts " The sayings {shabd) of Jhambaji, to the number of one

o^jham- hundred and twenty, were recorded by his disciples, and
have been handed down in a book {pothi) which is written
in the Nagari character, and in a Hindu dialect similar to
Bagri and therefore probably a dialect of Rajasthani. The
following is a translation of the twenty-nine precepts given
by him for the guidance of his followers : ' For thirty days
after childbirth and five days after a menstrual discharge
a woman must not cook food. Bathe in the morning.
Commit no adultery. Be content. Be abstemious and
pure. Strain your drinking-water. Be careful of your
speech. Examine your fuel in case any living creature be
burnt with it. Show pity to living creatures. Keep duty
present to your mind as the teacher bade. Do not steal.
Do not speak evil of others. Do not tell lies. Never
quarrel. Avoid opium, tobacco, bhang and blue clothing.
Flee from spirits and flesh. See that your goats are kept
alive (not sold to Musalmans, who will kill them for food).
Do not plough with bullocks. Keep a fast on the day
before the new moon. Do not cut green trees. Sacrifice
with fire. Say prayers ; meditate. Perform worship and
attain heaven.' And the last of the twenty-nine duties pre-
scribed by the teacher : * Baptise your children if you would
be called a true Bishnoi.' ^

" Some of these precepts are not strictly obeyed. For

' The total number of precepts as the prohibition of opium, tobacco,
given above is only twenty-five, but can bhang, blue clothing, spirits and flesh
be raised to twenty-nine by counting separately.

II CUSTOMS OF TIfE BISHNOIS !N THE PUNJAIl 339

instance, though ordinarily they allow no blue in their 3- Customs
clothing, yet a Bishnoi, if he is a police constable, is allowed ^jshnois j„
to wear a blue uniform ; and Bishnois do use bullocks, the Punjab.
though most of their farming is done with camels. They
also seem to be generally quarrelsome (in words) and given to
use bad language. But they abstain from tobacco, drugs
and spirits, and are noted for their regard for animal life,
which is such that not only will they not themselves kill any
living creature, but they do their utmost to prevent others
from doing so. Consequently their villages are generally
swarming with antelope and other animals, and they forbid
their Musalman neighbours to kill them, and try to dissuade
European sportsmen from interfering with them. They
wanted to make it a condition of their settlement that no
one should be allowed to shoot on their land, but at the
same time they asked that they might be assessed at lower
rates than their neighbours, on the ground that the antelope,
being thus left undisturbed, did more damage to their crops ;
but I told them that this would lessen the merit (^pun) of
their actions in protecting the animals, and they must be
treated just as the surrounding villages were. They consider
it a good deed to scatter grain to pigeons and other birds,
and often have a large number of half- tame birds about
their villages. The day before the new moon (Amawas)
they observe as a Sabbath and fast-day, doing no work in
the fields or in the house. They bathe and pray three times
a day, in the morning, afternoon and evening, saying ' Bishnu !
Bishnu ! ' instead of the ordinary Hindu ' Ram ! Ram.' Their
clothing is the same as that of other Bagris, except that their
women do not allow the waist to be seen, and are fond of
wearing black woollen clothing. They are more particular
about ceremonial purity than ordinary Hindus are, and it is
a common saying that if a Bishnoi's food is on the first of a
string of twenty camels and a man of another caste touches
the last camel of the string, the Bishnoi would consider his
food defiled and throw it away."

The ceremony of initiation is as follows : " A number 4- Initia-
of representative Bishnois assemble, and before them a Sadh ^apti^m
or Bishnoi priest, after lighting a sacrificial fire {/win),
instructs the novice in the duties of the faith. He then

340

BISHNOT

takes some water in a new earthen vessel, over which he
prays in a set form {BisJino gdyatri), stirring it the while
with his string of beads {indld), and after asking the consent
of the assembled Bishnois he pours the water three times
into the hands of the novice, who drinks it off. The
novice's scalp-lock {choti) is then cut off and his head shaved,
for the Bishnois shave the whole head and do not leave
a scalp-lock like the Hindus, but they allow the beard to
grow, only shaving the chin on the father's death. Infant
baptism is also practised, and thirty days after birth the
child, whether boy or girl, is baptised by the priest (Sadh)
in much the same way as an adult ; only the set form of
prayer is different, and the priest pours a few drops of water
into the child's mouth, and gives the child's relatives each
three handfuls of the consecrated water to drink ; at the
same time the barber clips off the child's hair. The
baptismal ceremony has the effect of purifying the house,
which has been made impure by the birth {sutak).

" The Bishnois do not revere Brahmans, but have priests
of their own known as Sadh, who are chosen from among
the laity. The priests are a hereditary class, and do not
intermarry with other Bishnois, from whom, like Brahmans,
they receive food and offerings. The Bishnois do not burn
their dead, but bury them below the cattle-shed or in some
place like a pen frequented by cattle. They make pilgrim-
ages to the place where Jhambaji is buried to the south of
Bikaner ; here a tomb and temple have been erected to his
memory, and gatherings are held twice a year. The sect
observe the Holi in a different way from other Hindus.
After sunset on that day they fast till the next forenoon
when, after hearing read the account of how Prahlad was
tortured by his infidel father, Hrianya Kasipu, for believing
in the god Vishnu, until he was delivered by the god himself
in his incarnation of Narsingh, the Man-lion, and mourning
over Prahlad's sufferings, they light a sacrificial fire and
partake of consecrated water, and after distributing sugar
i^gur) in commemoration of Prahlad's delivery from the fire
into which he was thrown, they break their fast."

5. Nature The abovc interesting account of the Bishnois by Mr.

of the sect. WilsoH shows that Jhambaji was a religious reformer, who

II NATURE OF THE SECT 341

attempted to break loose from the debased Hindu polytlieism
and arrogant supremacy of the Brahmans by choosing one
god, Vishnu, out of the Hindu pantheon and exalting him into
the sole and supreme deity. In his method he thus differed
from Kablr and other reformers, who went outside Hinduism
altogether, preaching a monotheistic faith with one unseen
and nameless deity. The case of the Manbhaos, whose
unknown founder made Krishna the one god, discarding the
Vedas and the rest of Hinduism, is analogous to Jhambaji's
movement. His creed much resembles that of the other
Hindu reformers and founders of the Vaishnavite sects.
The extreme tenderness for animal life is a characteristic
of most of them, and would be fostered by the Hindu belief
in the transmigration of souls. The prohibition of liquor
is another common feature, to which Jhambaji added that
of all kinds of drugs. His mind, like those of Kablr and
Nanak, was probably influenced by the spectacle of the
comparatively liberal creed of Islam, which had now taken
root in northern India. Mr. Crooke remarks that the
Bishnois of Bijnor appear to differ from those of the Punjab
in using the Muhammadan form of salutation, Saldm alaikum,
and the title of Shaikhji. They account for this by saying
they murdered a Muhammadan Kazi, who prevented them
from burning a widow, and were glad to compound the
offence by pretending to adopt Islam. But it seems
possible that on their first rupture with Hinduism they
were to some extent drawn towards the Muhammadans,
and adopted practices of which, on tending again to con-
form to their old religion, they have subsequently become
ashamed.

In northern India the members of different castes who 6. Bishnois
have become Bishnois have formed separate endogamous ^q^^^^^t^
groups, of which Mr. Crooke gives nine ; among these are Provinces,
the Brahman, Bania, Jat, Sunar, Ahir and Nai Bishnois.
Only members of comparatively good castes appear to have
been admitted into the community, and in the Punjab they
are nearly all Jats and Banias. In the Central Provinces
the caste forms only one endogamous group. They have
gotras or exogamous sections, the names of which appear
to be of the titular or territorial type. Some of the gotras.

342 BISHNOI PART

Jhuria, Ajna, Sain and Ahir/ are considered to be lower
than the others, and though they are not debarred from
intermarriage, a connection with them is looked upon as
something of a inesallia7ice. They are not consulted in the
settlement of tribal disputes. No explanation of the com-
paratively degraded position of these septs is forthcoming,
but it may probably be attributed to some blot in their
ancestral escutcheon. The Bishnois celebrate their marriages
at any period of the year, and place no reliance on astrology.
According to their saying, " Every day is as good as
Sankrant," every day is as good as Amawas.^ The
Ganges flows every day, and he whose preceptor has
taught him the most truth will get the most good from
bathing in it."
7. Mar- Before a wedding the bride's father sends, by the

riage. barber, a cocoanut and a silver ring tied round it with a
yellow thread. On the thread are seven, nine, eleven or
thirteen knots, signifying the number of days to elapse
before the ceremony. The barber on his arrival stands
outside the door of the house, and the bridegroom's father
sends round to all the families of his caste. The men go
to the house and the women come singing to the barber,
and rub turmeric on the boy. A married woman touches
the cocoanut and waves a lighted lamp seven times round
the bridegroom's head. This is meant to scare off evil
spirits. On arrival at the bride's village the bridegroom
touches the marriage-shed with the branch of a ber or wild
plum tree. The mother of the bride gives him some sugar,
rubs lamp-black on his eyes and twists his nose. The bride
and bridegroom are seated side by side on wooden boards,
and after the caste priest (Sadh) has chanted some sacred
verses, water is poured nine times on to the palms of the
bridegroom, and he drinks it. They do not perform the
ceremony of walking round the sacred pole. Girls are
usually married at a very early age, sometimes when they
are only a few months old. Subsequently, when the bride-

1 Jhuria may be Jharia, jungly ; Sain - The day when the sun passes from

is a term applied to beggars ; the Ahir one zodiacal sign into another,
or herdsman sept may be descended

from a man of this caste who became "^ The New Moon day or the day

a Bishnoi. before.

II DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 343

groom comes to take his bride, her family present her with
clothing and a spinning-wheel, this implement being still in
favour among the Bishnois. When a widow is to be married
again she is taken to her new husband's house at night, and
there grinds a flour-mill five times, being afterwards presented
with lac bangles.

The dead are never burnt, but their bodies are weighted 8. Disposal
with sand-bags and thrown into a stream. The practice ^g^^
which formerly prevailed among the Bishnois of burying
their dead in the courtyard of the house by the cattle-stalls
has now fallen into desuetude as being insanitary. A red
cloth is spread over the body of a woman, and if her
maternal relatives are present each of them places a piece
of cloth on the bier. After the funeral the mourning party
proceed to a river to bathe, and then cook and eat their food
on the bank. This custom is also followed by the Panwar
Rajputs of the Wainganga Valley, but is forbidden by most
of the good Hindu castes. No period of impurity is
observed after a death, but on some day between the fourth
and tenth days afterwards a feast is given to the caste-
fellows.

The Bishnois of the Central Provinces are gradually 9. Deveiop-
becoming an ordinary Hindu caste, a fate which has several ™c"ste" °
times befallen the adherents of Hindu reformers. Many
of the precepts of Jhambaji are neglected. They still
usually strain their water and examine their fuel before
burning it to remove insects, and they scatter flour to feed
the ants and grain for peacocks and pigeons. The wearing
of blue cloth is avoided by most, blue being for an obscure
reason a somewhat unlucky colour among the Hindus. But
they now use bullocks for ploughing, and cut green trees
except on the Amawas day. Many of them, especially the
younger generation, have begun to grow the Hindu cJioti or
scalp-lock. They go on pilgrimage to all the Hindu sacred
places, and no doubt make presents there to Brahman priests.
They o^&x pindas or sacrificial cakes to the spirits of their
deceased ancestors. They observe some of the ordinary
Hindu festivals, as the Anant Chaturthi, arid some of them
employ Brahmans to read the Satya Narayan Katha, the
favourite Hindu sacred book. They still retain their special

344 BISHNOI part ii

observance of the Holi, The admission of proselytes has
practically ceased, and they marry among themselves like
an ordinary Hindu caste, in which light they are gradually
coming to be regarded. The Bishnois are usually cultivators
or moneylenders by calling.

BOHRA

LIST OF PARAGRAPHS

1. Origin of the sect. 4. BoJira graveyards.

2. Their religious tenets. 5. Religious custotns.

3. The Mullahs. 6. Occupatio7i.

7. Houses and dress.

Bohra, Bohora.^ — A Muhammadan caste of traders who i. Origin
come from Gujarat and speak Gujarati. At the last census ° ' esect.
they numbered nearly 5000 persons, residing principally in
the Nimar, Nagpur and Amraoti Districts, Burhanpur being
the headquarters of the sect in the Central Provinces. The
name is probably derived from the Hindi byoJidra, a trader.
Members of the caste are honorifically addressed as Mullaji.
According to the received account of the rise of the Bohras
in Gujarat a missionary, Abdulla, came from Yemen to
Cambay in A.D. 1067. By his miracles he converted the
great king Sidhraj of Anhilvada Patan in Gujarat, and he
with numbers of his subjects embraced the new faith. For
two centuries and a half the Bohras flourished, but with the
establishment of Muzaffar Shah's power (A.D. 1 390-141 3)
in that country the spread of Sunni doctrines was encouraged
and the Bohra and other Shia sects suppressed. Since then,
with gradually lessening numbers, they have passed through
several bitter persecutions, meeting with little favour or
protection, till at the close of the eighteenth century they
found shelter under British rule. In 1539 the members of
the sect living in Arabia were expelled from there and came
to Gujarat, where they were hospitably received by their
brethren, the headquarters of the sect being thenceforward

^ This article is largely based on Muhammadans of Gujarat, and on a
Mr. F. L. Farldi's full description of paper by Mr. Habib Ullah, pleader,
the sect in the Bombay Gazetteer, Burhanpur.

345

346

BOHRA

fixed at Surat. The Bohras are Shias of the great IsmaiHa
sect of Egypt. The IsmaiHa sect split off from the orthodox
Shias on the question of the succession to the sixth Imam,
Jafar Sadik, in A.D. 765. The dispute was between his
eldest son's son Ismail and his second son Musi, the
Ismailias being those who supported the former and the
orthodox Shias the latter. The orthodox Shias are distin-
guished as believers in twelve Imams, the last of whom is
still to come. The Ismailias again divided on a similar
dispute as to the succession to the Khalifa Almustansir
Billah by his eldest son Nazar or his younger son Almustaali.
The Bohras are descended from the Mustaalians or supporters
of the younger son and the Khojas from the Nazarians who
supported the elder son.^ All these distinctions appear
somewhat trivial.

Gujarat contains two classes of Bohras : the traders who
are all Shias and are the only immigrants into the Central
Provinces, and a large class of cultivating Bohras who are
Sunnis. The latter may be the descendants of the earliest
converts and may have been forced to become Sunnis when
this sect was dominant in Gujarat as noticed above, while the
Shias are perhaps descended from the later immigrants from
Arabia. The Shia Bohras themselves are further divided
into several sects of which the Daudi are the principal.

Mr. Farldi writes of them : ' " They are attentive to
their religious duties, both men and women knowing the
Koran. They are careful to say their prayers, to observe
Muharram as a season of mourning and to go on pilgrimage
to Mecca and Kerbala. They strictly abstain from music
and dancing and from using or dealing in intoxicating
drinks or drugs. Though fierce sectarians, keenly hating
and hated by the regular Sunnis and other Muhammadans
than those of their own sect, their reverence for Ali and for
their high priest seems to be further removed from adoration
than among the Khojahs. They would appear to accept
the ordinary distinctions of right and wrong, punishing
drunkenness, adultery and other acts generally considered

^ Bombay Gazetteer, AInhammadans
of Gujarat, p. 30. Sir H. T. Cole-
brooke and Mr. Conolly thought that

the Bohras were true Shias and not
Ismailias.

2 Ibidem, pp. 30-32.

11 THE MULLAHS 347

disgraceful. Of the state beyond death they hold that, after
passing a time of freedom as evil spirits, unbelievers go to a
place of torment. Believers, but apparently only believers
of the Ismaili faith, after a term of training enter a state of
perfection. Among the faithful each disembodied spirit
passes the term of training in communion with the soul of
some good man. The spirit can suggest good or evil to
the man and may learn from his good deeds to love the
right ; when the good man dies the spirits in communion
with his soul are, if they have gained by their training,
attached to some more perfect man, or if they have lost by
their opportunities are sent back to learn ; spirits raised to
a higher degree of knowledge are placed in communion with
the High Priest on earth ; and on his death are with him
united to the Imams, and when through the Imams they
have learnt what they still require to know they are absorbed
in perfection. Except for some peculiarities in their names ;
that they attach special importance to circumcision ; that
the sacrifice or alsikah ceremony is held in the Mullah's
house ; that at marriage the bride and bridegroom when
not of age are represented by sponsors or ivalis ; that at
death a prayer for pity on his soul and body is laid in the
dead man's hands ; and that on certain occasions the High
Priest feeds the whole community — Bohra customs do not
so far as has been ascertained differ from those of ordinary
Muhammadans.

" Their leader, both in things religious and social, is the 3. The
head Mullah of Surat. The ruling Mullah names his ^^"^^^^'•
successor, generally, but it is said not always, from among
the members of his own family. Short of worship the head
Mullah is treated with the greatest respect. He lives in
much state and entertains with the most profuse liberality.
On both religious and civil questions his authority is final.
Discipline is enforced in religious matters by fine, and in
case of adultery, drunkenness and other offences, by fine,
excommunication and rarely by flogging. On ceremonial
occasions the head Mullah sits on his throne, and in token
of his power has the flyflapper, chauri, held before him. As
the Bohras enter they make three prostrations, salaams^ close
their hands and stand before him. To such as are worthy

348 BOHRA part

he says ' Be seated,' to others ' Stand.' Once a year, on
the 1 8th Rajjab, every Daudi lays his palm within the head
Mullah's hand and takes an oath to be faithful. On this
day when he goes to the mosque the Bohras are said to kiss
the Mullah's footsteps and to apply the dust he treads to
their heads and eyes." Each considerable settlement of the
sect has a deputy Mullah of its own.

4. Bohra Thc Sahadra or burial-place of the Bohras at Burhanpur
graveyards, contains the tombs of three of the Surat Mullahs who

happened to die when they were at Burhanpur. The tombs
are in shell-lime and are fairly handsome erections. The
Bohras support here by voluntary subscription a rest-house,
where members of the sect coming to the city can obtain free
board and lodging for as long as they like to stay. Mr.
Conolly says of their graveyards : ^

" Their burial-grounds have a pleasing appearance, the
tombs being regularly arranged in streets, east and west.
The tombs themselves, which are, of course, north and south,
the corpse resting on its right side, differ in no respect from
those of Sunnis, with the exception of a small chirdgh takia
or lamp-socket, cut out of the north face, just like the cavity
for the inscription of our own tombs."

5. Reii- Of their religion Mr. Kitts writes : - "In prayers they
gious differ both from Shias and Sunnis in that they follow their

customs. ■'

Mullah, praying aloud after him, but without much regularity
of posture. The times for commencing their devotions are
about five minutes later than those observed by Sunnis.
After the midday and sunset supplications they allow a
short interval to elapse, remaining themselves in the mosque
meanwhile. They then commence the afternoon and even-
ing prayers and thus run five services into three."

Mr. Thurston notes that the Bohras consider themselves
so superior to other sects that if another Muhammadan
enters their mosque they afterwards clean the spot which he
has occupied during his prayers.^ They show strictness in
other ways, making their own sweetmeats at home and
declining to eat those of the Halwai (confectioner). It is said

"^ J.A.S.B. vol. vi. (1837), part ii. ^ Cas/es and Tribes of Southern

p. 847. India, art. Bohra.

'^ Berar Census Report ( 1 8 1 8), p. 70.

II RI'.LR'.IOUS CUSTOMS 349

also that they will not have their clothes washed by a Dhobi,
nor wear shoes made by a Chamar, nor take food touched by
any Hindu. They are said to bathe only on Fridays, and
some of them not on every Friday. If a dog touches them
they are unclean and must change their clothes. They
celebrate the Id and Ramazan a day before other Muham-
madans. At the Muharram their women break all their
bangles and wear new bangles next day to show that they
have been widowed, and during this period they observe
mourning by going without shoes and not using umbrellas.
Mr. Conolly says of them : " I must not omit to notice that
a fine of 20 cowries (equally for rich and poor) punishes the
non-attendance of a Bohra at the daily prayers. A large
sum is exacted for remissness during the Ramazan, and it is
said that the dread of loss operates powerfully upon a class
of men who are particularly penny -wise. The money
collected thus is transmitted by the Ujjain Mullah to his
chief at Surat, who devotes it to religious purposes such as
repairing or building mosques, assisting the needy of his
subjects and the like. Several other offences have the same
characteristic punishment, such as fornication, drunkenness,
etc. But the cunning Bohras elude many of the fines and
daily indulge in practices not sanctioned by their creed ;
thus in their shops pictures and figures may be purchased
though it is against the commandments to sell the likeness
of any living thing."

It has been seen that when a Bohra is buried a prayer
for pity on his soul and body is laid in the dead man's hands,
of which Mr. Faridi gives the text. But other Muhammadans
tell a story to the effect that the head Mullah writes a letter
to the archangel Gabriel in which he is instructed to supply
a stream of honey, a stream of milk, water and some fruit
trees, a golden building and a number of houris, the extent
of the order depending on the amount of money which has
been paid to the Mullah by the departed in his lifetime ;
and this letter is placed beneath the dead man's head in the
grave, the Bohras having no coffins. The Bohras indignantly
repudiate any such version of the letter, and no doubt if the
custom ever existed it has died out.

The Bohras, Captain Forsyth remarks, though bigoted

35°

BOHRA

6. Occupa- religionists, are certainly the most civilised and enterprising
tion. g^j^jj perhaps also the most industrious class in the Nimar

District. They deal generally in hardware, piece-goods and
drugs, and are very keen traders. There is a proverb, " He
who is sharper than a Bohra must be mad, and he who is
fairer than a Khatri must be a leper." Some of them are
only pedlars and hawkers, and in past times their position
seems to have been lower than at present. An old account
says : ^ " The Bohras are an inferior set of travelling
merchants. The inside of a Bohra's box is like that of an
English country shop ; spelling-books, prayer-books, lavender-
water, soap, tapes, scissors, knives, needles and thread make
but a small part of the variety." And again : "In Bombay
the Bohras go about the town as the dirty Jews do in London
early and late, carrying a bag and inviting by the same nasal
tone servants and others to fill it with old clothes, empty
bottles, scraps of iron, etc.""

7. Houses Of their method of living Malcolm wrote : ^ " I visited
and dress, several of the houses of this tribe at Shahjahanpur, where a

colony of them are settled, and was gratified to find not only
in their apartments, but in the spaciousness and cleanliness
of their kitchens, in the well-constructed chimney, the neatly
arranged pantries, and the polished dishes and plates as
much of real comfort in domestic arrangements as could
be found anywhere. We took the parties we visited by
surprise and there could have been no preparation." The
Bohras do not charge interest on loans, and they combine
to support indigent members of the community, never
allowing one of their caste to beg. The caste may easily
be known from other Muhammadans by their small, tightly
wound turbans and little skull-caps, and their long flowing
robes, and loose trousers widening from the ankle upwards and
gathered in at the waist with a string. The women dress
in a coloured cotton or silk petticoat, a short-sleeved bodice
and a coloured cotton head-scarf When they go out of doors
they throw a dark cloak over the head which covers the
body to the ankles, with gauze openings for the eyes.

1 Crooke's edition of i/c;Z'j-^;/-y<5/;i(7«, ^ Memoir of Central India, ii. p.
art. Bohra. in.

2 Moor's ///«(/« Infanticide, p. 168.

BRAHMAN

LIST OP^ PARAGRAPHS

Origin mid development of the
caste.

Their monopoly of literature.

Absence of central authority.

Mixed elements in the caste.

Caste subdivisio7is.

Miscellaneous groups.

Sectarian divisions.
8. Exogamy.
g. Restrictions on marriage.

0. Hypergamy.

1. Marriage customs.

1. Polygamy., divorce and treat-
ment of widows.

1. Ahivasi.

2. Jijhotia.

3. Kanaujia, Kanyakubja.

4. Khedawal.

5. Maharashtra, Maratha.

6. Maithil.

13-

Sati or burning of widows.

14.

Funeral 7 ites and nioiirning.

15-

Religion.

16.

Daily ritual.

17-

The sacred thread.

18.

Social position.

19-

Titles.

20.

Caste panchdyat and offences.

21.

Rules about food.

22.

Dress.

23-

Tattooing.

24.

Occupation.

25.

Character of Brdhmans.

RTl

:CLES ON SUBCASTES

Malwi.

Nagar.

Naramdeo.

10.

Sanadhya, Sanaurhia.

II.

Sarwaria.

12.

Utkal.

Brahman, Baman. — The well-known priestly caste of i. Origin
India and the first of the four traditional castes of the ^"^ ^^~

_ velopment

Hindu scriptures. In 191 1 the Brahmans numbered about of the
450,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, or ^^^^^'

^ This article is mainly compiled
from a full and excellent account of
the caste by Mr. Gopal Datta Joshi,
Civil Judge, Saugor, C. P., to whom
the writer is much indebted. Extracts
have also been taken from Mr. W.
Crooke's and Sir H. Risley's articles
on the caste in their works on the

Tribes and Castes of the United Pro-
vinces and Bengal respectively ; from
Mr. J. N. Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes
and Sects (Thacker, Spink & Co.,
Calcutta, 1896), and from the Rev.
W. Ward's View of the History, Litcra-
tu7-e and Religion of the Hindus
(London, 1817).

351

352 BRAHMAN part

nearly 3 per cent of the population. This is less than
the average strength for India as a whole, which is about
4^ per cent. The caste is spread over the whole Province,
but is in greatest numbers in proportion to the population
in Saugor and Jubbulpore, and weakest in the Feudatory
States.

The name Brahman or Brahma is said to be from the
root brih or vrih, to increase. The god Brahma is con-
sidered as the spirit and soul of the universe, the divine
essence and source of all being. Brahmana, the masculine
numerative singular, originally denoted one who prays, a
worshipper or the composer or reciter of a hymn.^ It is
the common term used in the Vedas for the officiating
priest. Sir H. Risley remarks on the origin of the caste : ^
" The best modern opinion seems disposed to find the germ
of the Brahman caste in the bards, ministers and family
priests who were attached to the king's household in Vedic
times. Different stages of this institution may be observed.
In the earliest ages the head of every Aryan household was
his own priest, and even a king would himself perform the
sacrifices which were appropriate to his rank. By degrees
families or guilds of priestly singers arose, who sought
service under the kings, and were rewarded by rich presents
for the hymns or praise and prayer recited and sacrifices
offered by them on behalf of their masters. As time went
on the sacrifices became more numerous and more elaborate,
and the mass of ritual grew to such an extent that the king
could no longer cope with it unaided. The employment of
puroJdts or family priests, formerly optional, now became a
sacred duty if the sacrifices were not to fall into disuse.
The Brfdiman obtained a monopoly of priestly functions,
and a race of sacerdotal specialists arose which tended
continually to close its ranks against the intrusion of out-
siders." Gradually then from the household priests and
those who made it their business to commit to memory and
recite the sacred hymns and verses handed down orally
from generation to generation through this agency, an

1 Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Brahmanism.
Brahman, quoting Professor Eggol- ^ Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art.

ing in Encyclopcedia Britannica, s.v. Braliman.

II TlIJ'llR MONOl'OLV OF I.niiRATURK 353

occupational caste emerged, which arrogated to itself the
monopoly of these functions, and the doctrine developed
that nobody could perform them who was not qualified by
birth, that is, nobody could be a Brahman who was not the
son of a Brahman. When religious ritual became more
important, as apparently it did, a desire would naturally
arise among the priests to make their revered and lucrative
profession a hereditary monopoly ; and this they were easily
and naturally able to do by only teaching the sacred songs
and the sacrificial rules and procedure to their own de-
scendants. The process indeed would be to a considerable
extent automatic, because the priests would always take
their own sons for their pupils in the first place, and in the
circumstances of early Indian society a married priesthood
would thus naturally evolve into a hereditary caste. The
Levites among the Jews and the priests of the Parsis formed
similar hereditary orders, and the reason why they did not
arise in other great religions would appear to have been the
prescription or encouragement of the rule of celibacy for
the clergy and the foundation of monasteries, to which
admission was free. But the military landed aristocracies
of Europe practically formed hereditary castes which were
analogous to the Brahman and Rajput castes, though of a
less stereotyped and primitive character. The rise of the
Brahman caste was thus perhaps a comparatively simple
and natural product of religious and social evolution, and
might have occurred independently of the development of
the caste system as a whole. The former might be
accounted for by reasons which would be inadequate to
explain the latter, even though as a matter of fact the same
factors were at work in both cases.

The hereditary monopoly of the sacred scriptures would 2. Their
be strengthened and made absolute when the Sanskrit i"o"opoiy

° of litera-

language, in which they had been composed and handed ture.
down, ceased to be the ordinary spoken language of the
people. Nobody then' could learn them unless he was
taught by a Brahman priest. And by keeping the sacred
literature in an unknown language the priesthood made
their own position absolutely secure and got into their own
hands the allocation of the penalties and rewards promised
VOL. II 2 A

354 BRAHMAN part

by religion, for which these books were the authority, that
is to say, the disposal of the souls of Hindus in the after-
life. They, in fact, held the keys of heaven and hell. The
jealousy with which they guarded them is well shown by
the Abbe Dubois : ^ " To the Brahmans alone belongs
the right of reading the Vedas, and they are so jealous of
this, or rather it is so much to their interest to prevent
other castes obtaining any insight into their contents, that
the Brahmans have inculcated the absurd theory, which is
implicitly believed, that should anybody of any other caste
be so highly imprudent as even to read the title-page his
head would immediately split in two. The very few
Brahmans who are able to read those sacred books in the
original, only do so in secret and in a whisper. Expulsion
from caste, without the smallest hope of re-entering it, would
be the lightest punishment of a Brahman who exposed those
books to the eyes of the profane." It would probably be
unfair, however, to suppose that the Vedas were kept in the
original Sanskrit simply from motives of policy. It was
probably thought that the actual words of the sacred text
had themselves a concrete force and potency which would
be lost in a translation. This is the idea underlying the
whole class of beliefs in the virtue of charms and spells.

But the Brahmans had the monopoly not only of the
sacred Sanskrit literature, but practically of any kind of
literacy or education. They were for long the only literate
section of the people. Subsequently two other castes learnt
to read and write in response to an economic demand, the
Kayasths and the Banias. The Kayasths, it has been
suggested in the article on that caste, were to a large extent
the offspring and inmates of the households of Brahmans,
and were no doubt taught by them, but only to read and
write the vernacular for the purpose of keeping the village
records and accounts of rent. They were excluded from
any knowledge of Sanskrit, and the Kayasths subsequently
became an educated caste in spite of their Brahman pre-
ceptors, by learning Persian under their Muhammadan,
and English under their European employers. The Banias
never desired nor were encouraged to attain to any higher

' Hindu Manners^ Ciis/onis, and Ccretiionies, 3rd ed. p. 172.

II AliSENCE OF CKNTRAL AUTHORITY 355

degree of literacy than that necessary for keeping accounts
of sale and loan transactions. The Brahmans thus remained
the only class with any real education, and acquired a
monopoly not only of intellectual and religious leadership,
but largely of public administration under the Hindu kings.
No literature cxi.sted outside their own, which was mainly
of a sacerdotal character ; and India had no heritage such
as that bequeathed by Greece and Rome to mediaeval
Europe which could produce a Renaissance or revival of
literacy, leading to the Reformation of religion and the
breaking of the fetters in which the Roman priesthood had
bound the human mind. The Brahmans thus established,
not only a complete religious, but also a social ascendancy
which is only now beginning to break down since the
British Government has made education available to all.

The Brahman body, however, lacked one very important 3- Absence
clement of strength. They were apparently never organised authority.
nor controlled by any central authority such as that which
made the Roman church so powerful and cohesive. Colleges
and seats of learning existed at Benares and other places,
at which their youth were trained in the knowledge of religion
and of the measure of their own pretensions, and the means
by which these were to be sustained. But probably only a
small minority can have attended them, and even these
when they returned home must have been left practically
to themselves, spread as the Brahmans were over the whole
of India with no means of postal communication or rapid
transit. And by this fact the chaotic character of the
Hindu religion, its freedom of belief and worship, its
innumerable deities, and the almost complete absence of
dogmas may probably be to a great extent explained.
And further the Brahman caste itself cannot have been so
strictly organised that outsiders and the priests of the
lower alien religions never obtained entrance to it. As
shown by Mr. Crooke, many foreign elements, both indi-
viduals and groups, have at various times been admitted
into the caste.

The early texts indicate that Brahmans were in the 4. Mixed
habit of forming connections with the widows of Raianyas elements m

° . -' -^ the caste.

and Vaishyas, even if they did not take possession of the

356 BRAHMAN part

wives of such men while they were still alive/ The sons
of Angiras, one of the great ancestral sages, were Brahmans
as well as Kshatriyas, The descendants of Garga, another
well-known eponymous ancestor, were Kshatriyas by birth
but became Brahmans. Visvamitra was a Kshatriya, who,
by the force of his austerities, compelled Brahma to admit
him into the Brahmanical order, so that he might be on a
level with Vasishtha with whom he had quarrelled. Accord-
ing to a passage in the Mahabharata all castes become
Brahmans when once they have crossed the Gomti on a
pilgrimage to the hermitage of Vasishtha." In more recent
times there are legends of persons created Brahmans by
Hindu Rajas. Sir J. Malcolm in Central India found many
low-caste female slaves in Brahman houses, the owners of
which had treated them as belonging to their own caste.^

It would appear also that in some cases the caste priests of
different castes have become Brahmans. Thus the Saraswat
Brahmans of the Punjab are the priests of the Khatri caste.
They have the same complicated arrangement of exogamy
and hypergamy as the Khatris, and will take food from
that caste. It seems not improbable that they are really
descendants of Khatri priests who have become Brahmans.*

Similarly such groups as the Oswal, Srimal and Palliwal
Brahmans of Rajputana, who are priests of the subcastes of
Banias of the same name, may originally have been caste
priests and become Brahmans. The Naramdeo Brahmans,
or those living on the Nerbudda River, are said to be
descendants of a Brahman father by a woman of the Naoda
or Dhlmar caste ; and the Golapurab Brahmans similarly of
a Brahman father and Ahlr mother. In many cases, such
as the island of Onkar Mandhata in the Nerbudda in Nimar,
and the Mahadeo caves at Pachmarhi, the places of worship
of the non- Aryan tribes have been adopted by Hinduism
and the old mountain or river gods transformed into Hindu
deities. At the same time it is not improbable that the
tribal priests of the old shrines have been admitted into the
Brahman caste.

^ Muir, Ancient Sanskrit Texts, i. ■'' Quoted by Mr. Crooke.

282 sq.

^ Quoted in Mr. Crooke's Tribes ^ Tribes and Castes oj the Punjab,

and Castes, art. Brahman. by Mr. H. A. Rose, vol. ii. p. 123.

11 CASTE SUBDIVISIONS 357

The Brahman caste has ten main territorial divisions, 5. Caste
forming two groups, the ranch-Gaur or five northern, and ^'jyjsions
the Panch-Dravida or five southern. The boundary Hue
between the two groups is supposed to be the Ncrbudda
River, which is also the boundary between Hindustan and
the Deccan. But the Gujarati Brahmans belong to the
southern group, though Gujarat is north of the Nerbudda.
The five northern divisions are :

{(i) Sdraswat. — ^ These belong to the Punjab and are
named after the Saraswati river of the classical period, on
whose banks they are supposed to have lived.

{])) Ganr. — The home of these is the country round
Delhi, but they say that the name is from the old Gaur or
Lakhnauti kingdom of Bengal. If this is correct, it is
difficult to understand how they came from Bengal to Delhi
contrary to the usual tendency of migration. General
Cunningham has suggested that Gaura was also the name
of the modern Gonda District, and it is possible that the
term was once used for a considerable tract in northern
India as well as Bengal, since it has come to be applied
to all the northern Brahmans.^

{c) Kdnkubja or Kanaujia. — These are named after the
old town of Kanauj on the Ganges near Cawnpore, once
the capital of India. The Kanaujia are the most important
of the northern groups and extend from the west of Oudh
to beyond Benares and into the northern Districts of the
Central Provinces. Here they are subdivided into four
principal groups — the Kanaujia, Jijhotia, Sarwaria and
Sanadhya, which are treated in annexed subordinate
articles.

{d) Maithil. — They take their name from Mithila, the
old term for Bihar or Tirhut, and belong to this tract.

{e) Utkal. — These are the Brahmans of Orissa.

The five groups of the Panch-Dravida are as follows :

ia) Maharashtra. — These belong to the Maratha country
or Bombay. They are subdivided into three main terri-
torial groups — the Deshasth, or those of the home country,
that is the Poona tract above the Western Ghats ; the
Konkonasth, who belong to the Bombay Konkan or littoral ;
^ See also article Rajput-Gaur.

358 BRAHMAN part

and the Karhara, named after a place in the Satara
District.^

ib) Tailanga or AndJira. — The Brahmans of the Telugu
country, Hyderabad and the northern part of Madras. This
territory was known as Andhra and governed by an important
dynasty of the same name in early times.

(r) Drdvida. — The Brahmans of the Tamil country or
the south of Madras,

id) Karndta. — The Brahmans of the Carnatic, or the
Canarese country. The Canarese area comprises the Mysore
State, and the British Districts of Canara, Dharwar and
Belgaum.

{e) Gurjara. — The Brahmans of Gujarat, of whom two
subcastes are found in the Central Provinces. The first
consists of the Khedawals, named after Kheda, a village in
Gujarat, who are a strictly orthodox class holding a good
position in the caste. And the second are the Nagar
Brahmans, who have been long settled in Nimar and the
adjacent tracts, and act as village priests and astrologers.
Their social status is somewhat lower.

There are, however, a large number of other subcastes,
and the tendency to fissure in a large caste, and to the
formation of small local groups which marry among them-
selves, is nowhere more strikingly apparent than among
the Brahmans. This is only natural, as they, more than
any other caste, attach importance to strict ceremonial
observance in matters of food and the daily ritual of prayer,
and any group which was suspected of backsliding in respect
of these on emigration to a new locality would be debarred
from intermarriage with the parent caste at home. An
instance of this is found among the Chhattlsgarhi Brahmans,
who have been long settled in this backward tract and cut
off from communication with northern India. They are
mainly of the Kanaujia division, but the Kanaujias of Oudh
will neither take food nor intermarry with them, and they
now constitute a separate subcaste of Kanaujias. Similarly
the Malwi Brahmans, whose home is in Malwa, whence
they have spread to Hoshangabad and Betul, are believed
to have been originally a branch of the Gaur or Kanaujia,

' Sec subordinate articles.

II MISCELLANEOUS GROUPS 359

but have now become a distinct subcastc, and have adopted
many of the customs of Maratha Brfdimans. Mandla
contains a colony of Sarwaria ' Brahmans who received
grants of villages from the Gond kings and have settled
down there. They are now cultivators, and some have
taken to the plough, while they also permit widow-remarriage
in all but the name. They arc naturally cut off from
intercourse with the orthodox Sarwarias and marry among
themselves. The Harenia Brahmans of Saugor arc believed
to have immigrated from Hariana some generations ago and
form a separate local group ; and also the Laheria Brahmans
of the same District, who, like the Mandla Sarwarias, permit
widows to marry. In Hoshangabad there is a small sub-
caste of BawTsa or ' Twenty-two ' Brahmans, descended from
twenty-two families from northern India, who settled here
and have since married among themselves. A similar diversity
of subcastes is found in other Provinces. The Brahmans
of Bengal are also mainly of the Kanaujia division, but they
are divided into several local subcastes, of which the principal
are Rarhi and Barendra, named after tracts in Bengal, and
quite distinct from the subdivisions of the Kanaujia group in
the Central Provinces.

Another class of local subdivisions consists of those e. Miscei-
Brahmans who live on the banks of the various sacred rivers '^"^o^s

, . groups,

or at famous shrmes, and earn their livelihood by conducting

pilgrims through the series of ceremonies and acts of wor-
ship which are performed on a visit to such places ; they
receive presents from the pilgrims and the offerings made
at the shrines. The most prominent among these are the
Gayawals of Gaya, the Prayagwals of Allahabad (Prayag), the
Chaubes of Mathura, the Gangaputras (Sons of the Ganges)
of Benares, the Pandarams of southern India and the
Naramdeo Brahmans who hold charge of the many temples
on the Nerbudda. As such men accept gifts from pilgrims
they are generally looked down on by good Brahmans and
marry among themselves. Many of them have a character
for extortion and for fleecing their clients, a propensity
commonly developed in a profession of this kind. Such a
reputation particularly attaches to the Chaubes of Mathura

1 A section of the Kanaujia. See above.

36o BRAHMAN part

and Brindaban, the holy places of the god Krishna. They
are strong and finely built men, but gluttonous, idle and
dissolute. Some of the Benares Brahmans are known as
Sawalakhi, or having one and a quarter lakhs, apparently
on account of the wealth they amass from pilgrims, A
much lower group are the Maha-Brahmans (great Brah-
mans), who are also known as Patit (degraded) or Katia.
These accept the gifts offered by the relatives after a death
for the use of the dead man in the next world during
the period of mourning ; they also eat food which it is
supposed will benefit the dead man, and are considered to
represent him. Probably on this account they share in the
impurity attaching to the dead, and are despised by all
castes and sometimes not permitted to live in the village.
Other Brahmans are degraded on account of their having
partly adopted Muhammadan practices. The Husaini
Brahmans of western India are so called as they combine
Muhammadan with Hindu rites. They are principally
beggars. And the Kalanki Brahmans of Wardha and other
Districts are looked down upon because, it is said, that at
the bidding of a Muhammadan governor they make a figure
of a cow from sugar and eat it up. Probably they may have
really acted as priests to Muhammadans who were inclined
to adopt certain Hindu rites on the principle of imitation,
and with a view to please their disciples conformed to some
extent to Islam.
7. Sect- Brahmans have also sectarian divisions according to the

sions '^' different Vedas, which they especially study. It is held
that the ancient Rishis or saints, like the Jewish patriarchs,
lived far beyond the ordinary span of existence, and hence
had time to learn all the Vedas and their commentaries.
But this was impossible for their shorter-lived descendants,
and hence each Veda has been divided into a number of
Shakhas or branches, and the ordinary Brahman only learns
one Shakha of one Veda. Most Brahmans of the Central
Provinces are either Rigvedis or Yajurvedis, and these
commonly marry only followers of their own Veda, thus
forming a sort of cross set of endogamous divisions. The
restriction on marriage may also extend to the Shakha, so
that a man can only marry in a family of the same Shakha

II EXOGAMY 361

as himself. This applies in the Central Provinces mainly
to the Yajurvcclis, who have three well-known Shakhas or
branches called Kannava, Apastambha and Madhyandina.
These are derived from the Shukla or White Yajurveda,
which can be understood, while the Black Yajurveda is
obscure and unintelligible. The Rigvedis and Yajurvedis
have some differences in their methods of recitation. The
Rigvedis are said to move the head up and down when they
recite and not to use the hands ; while the Yajurvedis swing
the hands and body from side to side. It is said that a
Madhyandina cannot say his prayers nor take his food
before midday, and hence the name, which means half the
day. These points of distinction are given as stated by the
local Brahmans, and it is not known whether they would be
endorsed by the Pandits. The Maratha Brahmans of the
Central Provinces are usually Rigvedis and the Kanaujia
Brahmans Yajurvedis. Followers of the other two Vedas
are practically not found. Among Kanaujia Brahmans it is
also customary to ask the head of a family with which a
marriage is proposed whether he ties a knot in the right or
left half of his Shikha or scalp-lock during his prayers and
whether he washes his right or left foot first in the perform-
ance of a religious ceremony.

The exogamous arrangements of the Brahmans are also s. Exo-
very complex. It is said that the Brahmans are descended s^my-
from the seven sons of the god Brahma, who were Bhrigu,
Angirasa, Marichi, Atri, Pulaha, Pulastya and Vasishtha.
But Pulaha only begot demons and Pulastya giants, while
Vasishtha died and was born again as a descendant of
Marichi. Consequently the four ancestors of the Brahmans
were Bhrigu, Angirasa, Marichi and Atri. But according
to another account the ancestors of the Brahmans were the
seven Rishis or saints who form the constellation of the
Great Bear. These were Jamadagni, Bharadwaj, Gautam,
Kashyap, Vasishtha, Agastya, Atri and Visvamitra, who
makes the eighth and is held to be descended from Atri.
These latter saints are also said to be the descendants of
the four original ones, Atri appearing in both lists. But the
two lists taken together make up eleven great saints, who
were the eponymous ancestors of the Brahmans. All the

362

BRAHMAN

9. Restric-
tions on
marriage.

different subcastes have as a rule exogamous classes tracing
their descent from these saints. But each group, such as
that of Bhrigu or Angirasa, contains a large number of exo-
gamous sections usually named after other more recent
saints, and intermarriage is sometimes prohibited among the
different sections, which are descended from the same son of
Brahma or star of the Great Bear. The arrangement thus
bears a certain resemblance to the classification system of
exogamy found among primitive races, only that the number
of groups is now fairly large ; but it is said that originally
there were only four, from the four sons of Brahma who
gave birth to Brahmans. The names of other important
saints, after whom exogamous sections are most commonly
called, are Garg, Sandilya, Kaushik, Vatsya and Bhargava.
These five appear sometimes to be held as original ancestors
in addition to the eleven already mentioned. It may be
noted that some of the above names of saints have a totem-
istic character ; for instance, Bharadwaj means a lark ;
Kashyap resembles Kachhap, the name for a tortoise ;
Kaushik may come from the kusJia grass ; Agastya from the
agasti flower, and so on. Within the main group exogamy
sometimes also goes by titles or family names. Thus the
principal titles of the Kanaujias are : Pande, a wise man ;
Dube, learned in two Vedas ; Tiwari, learned in three Vedas ;
Chaube, learned in four Vedas ; Sukul, white or pure ;
Upadhya, a teacher ; Agnihotri, the priest who performs the
fire-sacrifice ; Dikshit, the initiator, and so on. Marriage
between persons bearing the same family name tends to be
prohibited, as they are considered to be relations.

The prohibition of marriage within the gotra or exo-
gamous section bars the union of persons related solely
through males. In addition to this, according to Hindu
law a Brahman must not marry a girl of his mother's or
maternal grandfather's gotra, or one who is a sapinda of
his father or maternal grandfather. Mr. Joshi states that
sapindas are persons related through being particles of the
same body. It is also understood that two persons are
said to be sapindas when they can offer pindas or funeral
cakes to the same ancestor. The rule barring the marriage
of sapindas is that two persons cannot marry if they are

II IIVrERGAMY 363

both as near as fourth in descent from a common ancestor,
and the relationship is derived through the father of either
party. If either is more remote than fourth in descent
they apparently could marry. If the relationship of the
couple is through their mothers in each case, then they
cannot marry if they are third in descent from the same
ancestor, but may do so in the fourth or subsequent genera-
tions. It is of no importance whether the intervening links
between the common ancestor and the proposed couple are
male or female ; descent is considered to be male if through
the father, and female if through the mother. In practice,
marriages are held to be valid between persons fourth in
descent from a common ancestor in the case of male
relationship, and third in the case of female relationship, that
is, persons having a common greatgrandparent in the male
line or a common grandparent in the female line can marry.

Other rules are that girls must not be exchanged in
marriage between two families, and a man may not marry
two sisters, though he can marry his deceased wife's sister.
The bride should be both younger in age and shorter in
stature than the bridegroom. A younger sister should not
be married while her elder sister is single.

The practice of hypergamy is, or was until recently, 10. Hyper
common among Brahmans. This is the rule by which the ^^™^'
social estimation of a family is raised if its girls are married
into a class of higher social status than its own. Members
of the superior classes will take daughters from the lower
classes on payment usually of a substantial bride-price, but
will not give their daughters to them. According to Manu,
men of the higher castes were allowed to take wives from
the lower ones but not to give daughters to them. The
origin of the custom is obscure. If caste was based on
distinctions of race, then apparently the practice of
hypergamy would be objectionable, because it would destroy
the different racial classes. If, on the other hand, the castes
consisted of groups of varying social status, the distinction
being that those of the lower ones could not participate in
the sacramental or communal meals of the higher ones,
then the marriage of a daughter into a higher group, which
would carry with it participation at the sacramental marriage

364 BRAHMAN part

feast of this group, might well be a coveted distinction.
The custom of hypergamy prevails somewhat largely in
northern India between different subcastes, groups of
different social status in the same subcaste, and occasion-
ally even between different castes. The social results of
hypergamy, when commonly practised, are highly injurious.
Men of the higher subcastes get paid for marrying several
wives, and indulge in polygamy, while the girls of the higher
subcastes and the boys of the lower ones find it difficult
and sometimes even impossible to obtain husbands and
wives. The custom attained its most absurd development
among the Kulin Brahmans of eastern Bengal, as described
by Sir H. Risley.^ Here the Brahmans were divided by a
Hindu king, Ballal Sen, into two classes, the Kulin (of good
family), who had observed the entire nine counsels of
perfection ; and the Srotriya, who, though regular students
of the Vedas, had lost sanctity by intermarrying with
families of inferior birth. The latter were further sub-
divided into three classes according to their degree of
social purity, and each higher class could take daughters
from the next one or two lower ones. The doctrine known
as Kula-gotra was developed, whereby the reputation of a
family depended on the character of the marriages made by
its female members. In describing the results of the system
Sir H. Risley states : " The rush of competition for Kulin
husbands on the part of the inferior classes became acute.
In order to dispose of the surplus of women in the higlier
groups polygamy was resorted to on a very large scale : it
was popular with the Kulins because it enabled them to
make a handsome income by the accident of their birth ;
and it was accepted by the parents of the girls concerned
as offering the only means of complying with the require-
ments of the Hindu religion. Tempted by a pan or
premium, which often reached the sum of two thousand
rupees, Swabhava Kulins made light of their kid and its
obligations, and married girls, whom they left after the
ceremony to be taken care of by their parents. Matrimony
became a sort of profession, and the honour of marrying a
girl to a Kulin is said to have been so highly valued in

^ Tribes and Castes, art. Brahman.

II IlYl'EKGAMV 365

eastern Bengal that as soon as a boy was ten years old
his friends began to discuss his matrimonial prospects, and
before he was twenty he had become the husband of many
wives of ages varying from five to fifty." The wives were
common